Brendan Rodgers said revenge was not Celtic’s objective after they beat Hibernian 2-0 to reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals and keep their domestic treble hunt on track.

The runaway Scottish Premiership leaders, who also beat Rangers on penalties to lift the Scottish League Cup before Christmas, won an entertaining last-eight clash at Celtic Park.

Daizen Maeda fired into the roof of the net to give them the lead – scoring his 27th goal of the season and 13th in his last 13 outings – then Adam Idah struck from a tight angle to kill the tie in second-half stoppage time.

Celtic were beaten by Hibs when the sides met in a league game at Easter Road just over a fortnight ago, but Rodgers says his players did not need to use that result as motivation.

“Revenge isn’t a word I like to use,” he told reporters after the match.

“We knew this was always going to be a tough game for us. Hibs have been brilliant over the last three months or so.

“We had to be good today to get this result, and I thought we were.

“Now, we can focus on our next semi-final and who we’ll play, and just make sure we’re ready for that.”

Rodgers, who has won all 20 of his Scottish Cup ties as Celtic boss, also heaped praise on Maeda, who has shone since fellow forward Kyogo Furuhashi joined Rennes in January.

Da da da da da da da… MAEDA!

Enjoy your evening, Celts #ScottishCup | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/dOsct0iNTV

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) March 9, 2025

“You don’t play for Japan in a World Cup as a number nine and score the goals he has scored for Japan and Yokohama if you can’t finish,” the Hoops boss added.

“He’s not a target man, but look at all the goals he scores, all the various types of goals. He’s a goalscorer – maybe not a direct number nine – but he can score goals and finish, and he’s growing in confidence.”