Celtic have booked their place in the semi-finals of the CIS Insurance Cup where they will meet Old Firm rivals Rangers after a 2-0 win over Livingston in their re-arranged quarter-final tie tonight. This match was postponed last month when a power failure hit Almondvale minutes before kick-off but tonight Livinston could not postpone the inevitable as Celtic came through a difficult 90 minutes with their Treble dream in tact.
Livingston are currently third in the Scottish Premier League, just three points behind Rangers with a game in hand and proved their credentials again tonight as they pushed Celtic all the way. However, manager Martin O'Neill rested many of his top stars including Henrik Larsson and Neil Lennon and in the end despite Livingston's brave and battling performance, Celtic deserved to go through.
Bobo Balde gave the visitors the lead on 35 minutes. Lubo Moravcik swung in a dangerous free-kick from the right which was flicked on by Chris Sutton to Balde at the back post and he rose easily to head home from point-blank range. However, it took the reigning champions until the 85th minute before they secured their place in the last four of the competition. John Hartson scored his sixth goal in four games to ease the pressure on Martin O'Neill's side when he bundled home Guppy's corner from close range and there was no way back for Livingston.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
