Celtic Player Ratings v Raith Rovers


Celtic progressed to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup courtesy of a 4-0 win over Raith Rovers. It was a game of contrasting halves for the Hoops on Sunday afternoon as they made sure of their place in the hat for the next round despite seven changes to the starting eleven. 

Goals from Liam Scales, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Daizen Maeda and Nir Button helped Ange Postecoglou’s side to a victory which, in all honesty, many would’ve expected. 


Here are my player ratings from the match. 


Joe Hart - 7/10

Joe Hart has really made the spot between the sticks his own this season. The Englishman had next to nothing to do and secured yet another clean sheet in green and white.   


Anthony Ralston - 7/10

One of only four players who kept their place in the starting eleven from Celtic’s win at Pittodrie, Anthony Ralston played ninety minutes this afternoon. The right back was relatively well founded and his powerful header led to Celtic’s third goal when Jamie MacDonald palmed into the path of Daizen Maeda who was there to knock home from close range. 


Cameron Carter-Vickers - 7/10

Celtic’s American centre back was fortunate not to concede a penalty in the first half when the ball appeared to have struck his arm. Other than that, Carter-Vickers was steady at the heart of the Celtic defence and was replaced by Christopher Jullien in the second half who made a long awaited return. 


Stephen Welsh - 8/10

Many suspected it was going to be Christopher Jullien who took Carl Starfelt’s place in the Celtic defence this afternoon however it was Scotland under twenty one International Stephen Welsh who occupied said berth. Welsh, at least in my eyes, was sound defensively and won several duels along with making key blocks. He was also fine on the ball and played the full match. 


Liam Scales - 7/10

The Irishman bagged his second Celtic goal when he received Tom Rogic’s pass on the edge of the penalty area and fired into the back of the net, via the post. In addition, Scales covered the left hand side with ease however he did make some loose passes. It will be intriguing to see who gets the nod at left back for Celtic on Thursday. 


Nir Bitton - 6/10

Captaining the Celtic side today, Nir Bitton took up the holding role in front of the Celtic defence. The Israeli took responsibility late on in the match when Celtic were awarded a penalty. Bitton’s effort was saved by the goalkeeper however he was there to follow in and extend Celtic’s lead to a four goal one. Celtic’s vice captain will most likely be replaced on Thursday evening by Callum McGregor when Bodo/Glimt come to town. 


Reo Hatate - 7/10

Reo Hatate has become a regular fixture in the Celtic side in recent weeks. The Japanese midfielder started each of the last five matches and made it six today. Hatate made a line breaking pass to put Jota in behind for Celtic’s second goal of the afternoon and along with that, was energetic as ever. 


Tom Rogic - 6/10

The Australian came back into the starting eleven tonight and had a number of uncharacteristic slack touches and passes however Rogic did produce a nice pass to set up Liam Scales for Celtic’s opener. The twenty nine year old now has real competition for his spot in the team through the presence of Englishman Matt O’Riley. 


James Forrest - 6/10

The veteran winger didn’t see much of the ball and his only real opportunity was one when he was reluctant to pull the trigger. It was another sub-par performance from Forrest. 


Giorgos Giakoumakis - 8/10

The Greek striker took Daizen Maeda’s place in the Celtic team today and got his goal when he calmly finished past Jamie MacDonald after receiving a sublime Jota pass. The twenty seven year old cried to the heavens after he netted which sums up his recent attainment. 


Mikey Johnston - 5/10

Mikey Johnston had to be withdrawn early in the second half through injury and it was probably for the best. The winger attempted to take on his man on several occasions and failed in most. Johnston was poor to say the least and his injury problems continue to plague him. 


Substitutes 


Identical to the Scottish Premiership, a maximum of five substitutes are allowed to be made in the Scottish Cup. 


The first of Celtic’s five saw the injured Mikey Johnston be replaced by Jota. The Portuguese stood out when he was brought on and contributed to two Celtic goals. His superb pass found Giorgos Giakoumakis in the box to double Celtic’s lead on the sixty eighth minute and his attempt at goal met the hand of Sean Mackie to win the Hoops a penalty. I’m sure Ange Postecoglou would’ve been keen to rest Jota after his exploits midweek although that was not to be the case and in hindsight, his involvements in the match were heavily significant. 


With around twenty minutes to go, and just after Celtic’s lead was extended to two goals, three changes were made. Tom Rogic, James Forrest and Giorgos Giakoumakis were all replaced by Yosuke Ideguchi, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda respectively. The most impactful of these changes was the one that saw Daizen Maeda introduced. With almost his first touch of the ball, the Japanese attacker nodded home from close range to get his second goal in three games. The other two players who came on at the same time, Guchi and Abada, were fairly sparse yet didn’t really put a foot wrong. 


The final of Celtic’s substitutes was one we’ve waited a long time for. Cameron Carter-Vickers was replaced for the last fifteen or so minutes by Christopher Jullien. The Frenchman has endured a horrid time out through injury in the past fourteen months but was reintroduced today to a great reception from the Celtic support. Going forward, Jullien offers yet another option for Ange Postecoglou in central defence which is now looking like a cogent position in the Celtic side. 


Although it wasn’t the greatest overall Celtic performance, the Hoops still progressed to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup with the draw taking place on Monday evening following Dundee’s tie with Peterhead. 


Up next for the Bhoys though, is European action. Bodo/Glimt are the visitors to Celtic Park on Thursday evening for the first leg of the knockout round play off of the Europa Conference League. 


Thank you for reading this article. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog for more Celtic and Scottish football content. 

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