It all kicks off as Celtic dump Dundee United out of Scottish Cup

Celtic roared into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup as the goals and red cards flowed against Dundee United.

The hoops scored four times without reply- through Jason Denayer, Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons and Virgil van Dijk- with the match ending with red cards for Anthony Stokes and Ryan McGowan.

The bad blood between the two clubs following back-to-back cup ties spilled over in the closing stages with Stokes lifting his arm to Paul Paton quickly followed by McGowan chopping down Liam Henderson close to the corner flag.

Calum Murray replaced Craig Thomson after the first clash between the sides but set the tone for the game when he bottled out of red carding Rado Cierzniak in the first minute after the United keeper came racing out of his goal to chop Griffiths as he raced through on goal.

That incident ensured that the feelings from Tannadice and Hampden weren’t allowed to fade away with both side’s testing each other out with some borderline challenges.

The goal that Celtic were searching for came in the 17^th minute when Denayer showed his value in the opposition box when he sent a header looping over Cierzniak from Stokes’ free kick.

United started the second half pushing strongly for an equaliser but two sublime touches just before the hour marked ensured that it was Celtic that go back to Hampden.

RD on Leigh Griffiths scoring just before being substituted: “Leigh was lucky there! It was a nice goal and a good pass from Broony.”

— Celtic Football Club (@celticfc) March 18, 2015

A perfectly weighted high diagonal pass from Brown was well anticipated by Griffiths who volleyed the ball home before finding himself substituted by John Guidetti.

Celtic were in no mood to ease up with Commons finishing a great passing move in the 79^th minute with a well placed shot over the onrushing Cierzniak and under the crossbar.

Rather than allow the game to be played out quietly Stokes and McGowan were red carded before van Dijk completed the scoring from close range to send the vast majority of the 28,000 crowd home dreaming of a treble.