06.03.2016 17:36 h

Celtic cruise into Scottish Cup semi-finals

Leigh Griffiths showed the way as Celtic cruised into the Scottish Cup semi-finals after comfortably seeing off Championship side Greenock Morton 3-0 at Parkhead on Sunday.

The Scottish champions scored three first-half goals to join Glasgow rivals Rangers -- who demolished Dundee 4-0 in Saturday's quarter-final at Ibrox -- and Dundee United in the final four of the competition.

Griffiths pounced on a defensive error to tap in the first goal from close range in the 14th minute before Gary Mackay-Steven added a second 11 minutes later.

Callum McGregor curled home a third in the 35th minute to end any hopes Morton had of causing an upset.

The win eases the pressure on under-fire manager Ronny Deila as Celtic progressed to their sixth semi-final in seven years.

"We were very determined and 3-0 at the break was good. In the second half we controlled it well," the Celtic manager said.

"Now we are in another semi-final and we are looking forward to that."

Morton manager Jim Duffy was disappointed by the goals his side conceded.

"The goals we lost were very basic goals and very poor," he said.

"We had to earn a bit of respect in the second half and we managed to do that."

Hibernian and Inverness Caledonian Thistle will make up the draw for the semi-finals after the sides played out a 1-1 stalemate at Easter Road.

Celtic made a host of changes for the match at Parkhead after their disappointing draw with Dundee in midweek, which saw their lead at the top of the Premiership cut to four points.

But any nerves the home side had were soon settled as Griffiths took advantage of Tom O'Ware's misjudged header to collect a cross and fire home from close range for his 34th goal of the season.

The second goal was equally straightforward as Mackay-Steven got on the end of Kieran Tierney's cross to stroke the ball past Derek Gaston.

McGregor completed the scoring 10 minutes before the break as he beat the goalkeeper with a bending effort from the edge of the box to send the Hoops supporters home happy.

Holders Inverness had to come from behind to force a replay against Championship side Hibs.

Hibs, who had lost their previous three games, put their league slump behind them to take a 54th-minute lead through James Keatings.

On-loan Celtic forward Anthony Stokes released David Gray wide on the right and Keatings emphatically fired home his cross.

However, the holders grabbed an equaliser in the 77th minute as two substitutes combined to earn the Highlanders a replay in Inverness on March 16.

Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo gathered Lewis Horner's cut-back and took a touch before rifling an effort into the roof of the net.

"I thought we were the better team for the first 25 minutes," said Inverness manager John Hughes.

"But Hibs came back into the game and started the second half better and got their goal."

Dundee United advanced by coming from behind to win 3-2 at Ross County despite playing most of the second half in Dingwall with 10 men.