St Johnstone booked a Scottish Cup quarter-final slot against Rangers or Celtic in comfortable fashion, beating League One outfit Clyde 2-0 in the fourth round.
A tie with the winner of Rangers v Celtic awaited the winner of this contest and it was the League Cup holders who took the lead on six minutes after a bright start from the hosts. David Wotherspoon played a through ball to Michael O’Halloran, who squared the ball across goal to Guy Melamed for a close-range finish.
Rangers or Celtic are next. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Callum Davidson’s side doubled their advantage on 20 minutes, Stevie May playing a smart ball from the left, finding O’Halloran who slid the ball into the net to kill the game as a contest.
The hosts imposed more pressure on Clyde before the interval but the Bully Wee were more organised in the second period and a barrage of St Johnstone set-pieces threatened the Bully Wee backline. Danny Lennon’s men were standing tall.
Clyde did have the ball in the net with 13 minutes to play after Lewis Jamieson rounded Elliott Parish but it was disallowed for offside. St Johnstone held out for a Scottish Cup quarter-final place with a trip to one of Rangers or Celtic in the pipeline next weekend. Here are three things we learned from the game.
Dominant St Johnstone
There was Saints intent straight from the first whistle with the Clyde defence under trouble very quickly before Melamed guided home the opener. The movement on and off the ball was exciting from Davidson’s side and Clyde couldn’t contain the likes of O’Halloran and Melamed in particular.
O’Halloran was impressive. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group via Getty Images)
It was a straight-forward victory for St Johnstone despite the second half not living up to the standards at the beginning and it’s Rangers or Celtic next on the road to Hampden.
Better from Clyde
Clyde showed a better balance in defence and attack after the interval. It was still one way traffic in terms of opportunities but there was an organisation about their play and they also mustered up the occasional chance.
Needed minutes
Davidson rotated the team from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen, with 8 changes giving him a welcome headache after some good performances throughout. The St Johnstone manager even enjoyed the privilege of giving Charlie Gilmour and Glenn Middleton more game time ahead of the final matches.
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