Celtic score four goals in six minutes of extra time to book Scottish Cup final place

Celtic scored four goals in the space of six minutes in extra time to seal their place in the Scottish Cup final.

Daizen Maeda put the Hoops in front inside a minute after chasing down a loose touch from Saints keeper Ryan Mullen as the ball dribbled into the net for an early gift.

By the quarter-hour mark, Mullen was forced off with an injury to be replaced by 17-year-old debutant Grant Tamosevicius, with number one Shamal George not in the squad.

On the half hour, a bullet header from a corner by Donnelly was smartly stopped by Sinisalo in the Celtic goal as the Buddies attempted to draw level.

It was the Finnish keeper moments later left scrambling to scoop the ball off the line after Killian Phillips blocked his clearance at close range before a handball was given.

Yang went close, clipping the bar with a header from a deep Kieran Tierney cross after Engels had also hit the woodwork in the first half.

In injury time of the first half, Celtic eased their supporters’ frustration after Yang backheeled the ball into the path of Anthony Ralston who made no mistake with a thunderous strike in off the bar.

It was St Mirren who responded in the second half after Mikael Mandron rose highest in the box to guide a header into the corner.

Both teams searched for a definitive fourth goal in the game, with St Mirren piling the pressure on Celtic’s defence in a bid to level the game and Sinisalo forced into a double save.

It was Madron again who showed his power to punish a leggy Celtic in injury time, speeding past Benjamin Arthur to fire an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner, sending the contest into extra time.

Almost as soon as extra time started, Celtic found their shooting boots, hitting the Saints with four quick-fire goals in the space of a blistering six minutes to take command.

Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho bagged a double inside two minutes, and goals from Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan capped off a miraculous recovery.

Martin O’Neill will now face off in a fairytale cup final against his former captain Neil Lennon and his Dunfermline side after they beat Falkirk on penalties on Saturday.