Brendan Rodgers switched formation to include a two strikers as Celtic beat St Mirren 2-0 to book a home Scottish Cup tie against Livingston for a semi-final place.
After coming off the bench to join Adam Idah in attack against Hibs in midweek Kyogo Furuhashi earned a starting spot against a confident St Mirren side that had beaten Hibs and Dundee in their previous matches.
The benefits of his deeper role were obvious in the 15th minute when he timed his run perfectly to connect with a Luis Palma pass and send a low shot into the net from just inside the penalty box.
St Mirren pushed hard for an equaliser, Alex Gogic hit the bar with one overhead kick then forced a good save out of Joe Hart just before the interval with another spectacular effort.
Eight minutes after the break Matt O’Riley struck the bar but the rebound fell to Daizen Maeda who netted in front of the Celtic support.
St Mirren refused to give up but were unable to find a route back into the match with Joe Hart in assured form behind a well organised Celtic back four.
