Georgios Samaras (33 mins)
Scott Brown (68 mins)
The William Hill Scottish Cup Fifth Round
, Feb 4, 2012
Ground: Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
, Kickoff: 12:45 , Att 5,743
Team news
Hayes hopes for new Celtic shock Jonny Hayes first heard of Inverness when they caused a shock keenly felt in his native Dublin by knocking Celtic out of the Scottish Cup in 2000.
But the Irishman does not feel it would be a major surprise should he and his team-mates become the latest Caley Thistle side to deny Celtic some silverware at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium tomorrow.
Since the then First Division side cost John Barnes his job as Celtic manager, Inverness have knocked Martin O'Neill's side out of the cup and delivered the fatal blow in Neil Lennon's bid to win the title in his first full season in charge.
So Hayes is optimistic improving Inverness can repeat the feat tomorrow and secure a William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round win that would not create as much of a splash as the `Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious' headline of 12 years ago.
The 24-year-old said : "Before I signed for the club, I didn't really know much about the club apart from that headline.
"Apart from Terry Butcher being the manager and them being in Scotland, I think the headline was the only thing I knew about the club.
"It was big in Ireland obviously. Ninety nine percent of people where I come from are Celtic fans and everybody was gutted. The headline even made the papers in Ireland.
"If we beat Celtic on Saturday I don't think it will be such a big headline.
"What the lads did 10 or 11 years ago was tremendous because Inverness were a lot smaller back then.
"Last season we beat Celtic 3-2 at the end of the season and not much was made of it, barring it losing Celtic the league.
"There wasn't much really said about the game itself because people know what to expect when they come up here. If we perform to our best we can beat anybody." Inverness have an unchanged squad for the tie.
Owain Tudur Jones came through a practice match in midweek but is unlikely to feature after six months, while Aaron Doran suffered a hamstring injury in the same game.
Defender Steve Williams (knee) remains out along with long-term absentees Roman Golobart (ankle), Chris Hogg (knee) and Andrew Shinnie (foot).
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has revealed his pleasure at not losing any players in the transfer window.
Speaking before the tie, Lennon said: "I am absolutely delighted.
"We didn't want to break the squad up. We have bought some players in and thankfully we were able to keep all the players who were subject to speculation.
"That's it, the squad is settled and we can look forward to the next three or four months now.
Lennon was also keen to point out that despite the upset in 2000, Celtic usually have the upper hand in these contests.
"People forget that we have knocked Inverness out of competitions," he said.
"But the more we play these teams the law of averages means that every now and again they will win one.
"That doesn't concern me too much. The players are very focused and hungry at the moment.
"I know Terry Butcher will have Inverness fired up for the game and we will be the same." Defender Daniel Majstorovic is back in the Celtic squad after recovering from a fractured cheekbone.
None of the Hoops' January signings, Polish striker Pawel Brozek, Nigeria midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim and Swedish right-back Mikael Lustig, will feature.
Inverness CT vs Celtic
Last modified 15:07 04/02/12
Hoops make it 15 in the Highlands Goals from Georgios Samaras and Scott Brown saw Celtic impressively ease past Inverness 2-0 in their William Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round tie at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
Both sides took time to come to terms with the windy conditions but the pendulum swung the visitors' way when the Greece striker fired high past Jonny Tuffey in the 33rd minute to give them the interval lead.
In the 67th minute, after Caley defender David Proctor had conceded a penalty for a foul on Gary Hooper, Celtic skipper Brown slotted in the spot-kick for his third goal in three games to take the holders into Monday's draw at Hampden.
The result extended the Hoops' domestic winning run to 15 games and, being one point clear of Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and in the final of the Scottish Communities League Cup final, kept them on course for the domestic treble.
Once again Celtic manager Neil Lennon tinkered with his side, making four changes.
Defenders Adam Matthews and Kelvin Wilson, midfielder Kris Commons and striker Samaras came in for Cha Du-ri, Emilio Izaguirre, James Forrest and Anthony Stokes, the latter two starting on the bench.
Caley boss Terry Butcher replaced keeper Ryan Esson with Tuffey and brought in midfielder Graeme Shinnie for Shane Sutherland but they never looked like replicating their two previous cup shocks over Celtic in the tournament, in 2000 and 2003.
Inverness were unbeaten in seven matches but on a freezing, windy day they struggled as much as Celtic to tame the conditions.
In the sixth minute Hooper managed to escape the attention of the Caley defence but he was unable to get the ball under control and ended up with a back-heeled effort which was blocked by Tuffey.
It quickly turned into a scrappy affair. Celtic keeper Fraser Forster was called into action for the first time in the 23rd minute when he had to dive smartly down to his right to tip a low drive from Nick Ross round the post.
Caley defender Josh Meekings flicked on Greg Tansey's corner at the near post but the ball was blocked by sheer numbers inside the six-yard box.
On the half-hour mark, as Celtic tested the nervy looking Highland defence again, Hooper had a decent effort from the edge of the box saved by Tuffey.
However, the cup holders' opener was only three minutes away with Tokely at fault.
The big Inverness stopper stretched a leg out but failed to cut out Commons' through-ball and the Greece striker raced on before firing high past Tuffey from 16 yards, with the ball appearing to take a swerve.
Moments later, a short pass-back from Tokely allowed Hooper to run in on goal but Tuffey blocked his angled shot with his leg and from the rebound the keeper saved again, this time from Joe Ledley before the danger was eventually cleared.
The home side were all over the place but six minutes from the break Tokely headed a Jonny Hayes corner over the bar, passing up on the chance to make amends for earlier indiscretions.
Celtic looked in command by the break, though, and they came out for the second period determined to get the next goal.
In the 50th minute, following a fine move involving Commons and Hooper inside the Caley box, the former Scunthorpe striker cut the ball across goal only to see Ledley clear the bar from close range.
Then the sliding Samaras could not get enough on a great Ledley cross from the left and the ball spun past the far post for a goal-kick.
On the hour mark, with the home side starting to make some progress, Sutherland replaced Tade and Claude Gnakpa came on for Ross, before Forrest replaced Commons.
Samaras came close again when he reached a Charlie Mulgrew free-kick with a flashing header which drew another good save from Tuffey.
However, the tie was effectively over when Brown grabbed number two from the spot - the goal again coming as a result of careless Caley defending.
When Hooper robbed Proctor on the byline, the Inverness defender chopped him down leaving referee no option but to award a penalty from which the Hoops skipper sent Tuffey the wrong way.
| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Substitution | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Jonny Tuffey | ||||
| 19 | Graeme Shinnie | ||||
| 22 | Kenny Gillet | ||||
| 14 | David Proctor |
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| 26 | Josh Meekings | ||||
| 3 | Ross Tokely | ||||
| 7 | Johnny Hayes(sub 73) |
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| 8 | Greg Tansey | ||||
| 9 | Richie Foran | ||||
| 11 | Nick Ross(sub 60) |
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| 15 | Gregory Tade(sub 60) |
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| Substitutes | |||||
| 1 | Ryan Esson | ||||
| 2 | Thomas Piermayr | ||||
| 18 | Shane Sutherland(sub 60) |
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| 20 | Sam Winnall(sub 73) |
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| 25 | Claude Gnakpa(sub 60) |
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| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Substitution | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fraser Forster | ||||
| 6 | Kelvin Wilson | ||||
| 25 | Thomas Rogne | ||||
| 21 | Charlie Mulgrew | ||||
| 2 | Adam Matthews | ||||
| 8 | Scott Brown |
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| 16 | Joe Ledley(sub 90) |
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| 67 | Victor Wanyama | ||||
| 88 | Gary Hooper(sub 81) |
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| 9 | Georgios Samaras |
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| 15 | Kris Commons(sub 61) |
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| Substitutes | |||||
| 24 | Lukasz Zaluska | ||||
| 5 | Daniel Majstorovic | ||||
| 10 | Anthony Stokes(sub 81) |
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| 49 | James Forrest(sub 61) |
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| 56 | Filip Twardzik(sub 90) |
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| Team | Inverness CT | Celtic |
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