posted on Jan, 9 2005 @ 03:31 PM
John Hartson celebrated his new contract with the second-half Celtic winner to send rivals Rangers crashing out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup at the
third round stage.
Chris Sutton recovered from his sending-off during the bad-tempered clash in November by firing Celtic ahead before the break only for Fernando
Ricksen to equalise with a glancing header. But former Rangers target Hartson, who signed a two-year extension to his contract on Friday, capitalised
on more shoddy defending to put Celtic into the fourth-round draw.
Celtic dominated the first half and it was no surprise when Sutton siezed upon Hartson's flick to beat Stefan Klos just before the half-hour mark. But
a revitalised 'Gers levelled early in the second half when Ricksen arrived with perfect timing to power a downward header in from Alan Hutton's cross.
A replay looked a real possibility until the 78th minute when Sutton dummied Didier Agathe's low centre and a sleeping visitors' defence allowed
Hartson to steal in unnoticed at the far post for a simple tap-in.
Celtic were joined in the fourth round draw by Inverness, who had a hard-fought 1-0 victory over St Johnstone. The Bell's Scottish One outfit held out
until the 74th minute when a header from full-back Stuart Golabek settled the tie.
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