Maeda was playing for Celtic for the 100th time when Kyogo Furuhashi sealed the win, sending them to the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals.
As the holders defeated Livingston’s fierce fight to advance to the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals, Daizen Maeda celebrated his 100th Celtic appearance with a game-winning hat-trick.
After the clinching Premiership bottom team had twice equalised at Celtic Park through Daniel MacKay and Tete Yengi, Maeda gave Celtic the lead for the third time in the 86th minute, bringing his total for the club to 27 goals.
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Deep into stoppage time, Kyogo Furuhashi, the substitute, scored to help Celtic win 4-2.
Despite the absence of Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers due to injuries, Celtic managed to secure a trip to Hampden the following month.
As a precaution, Carter-Vickers was taken out of the game due to concerns regarding his hamstring during training. Meanwhile, Nicolas Kuhn made his Celtic Park debut because Luis Palma was unable to recover from an injury.
Livingston also had to deal with injuries, primarily to their midfield players. Andrew Shinnie pulled out due to a groyne issue, while Jason Holt pulled out due to illness; David Carson, who was cup-tied, accompanied Scott Pittman on the sidelines.
Jamie Brandon, the full-back, and Steven Bradley, the winger, formed David Martindale’s central trio.
Ayo Obileye struck the post, giving Celtic an early warning, but Willie Collum missed a home free-kick.
Before laying the foundation for the first goal in the seventh minute with a superb cross from the right, Kuhn had already shown signs of potential.
Right-back Maeda was given the opportunity by Michael Nottingham, but the striker was level when the cross arrived, allowing him to take a touch before converting from six yards.
Five minutes later, Livi tied the score after MacKay had gone behind because to a pass played by Cristian Montano between Alistair Johnston and Stephen Welsh.
The winger, who netted for Inverness in the championship game against Celtic the previous year, had time to wait for the ball to bounce before curling into the upper corner.
Left-back After 10 minutes, Montano undid all of his hard work when, after Livi seemed to have stopped a potentially deadly counterattack, he hesitated in possession on the edge of his box.
When Matt O’Riley got the ball back, Michael McGovern blocked the midfielder’s shot, and Maeda dipped to head home.
