Celtic 5-0 Brechin City

Celtic cruised into the Scottish Cup fifth round with a routine victory over the Championship's bottom side.

James Forrest side-footed home Scott Sinclair's cut-back before Brechin had even touched the ball.

Scott Sinclair then capitalised on some calamitous defending to tuck away his 17th goal of the season.

Second-half headers from Olivier Ntcham and Dedryck Boyata, and a crisp finish from Odsonne Edouard, completed a comfortable victory for the hosts.

The Premiership leaders, refreshed from their mid-winter break, fielded a strong starting 11 despite opponents who find themselves 16 points adrift at the foot of Scotland's second tier.

Their intent yielded a reward after just two minutes, Sinclair twisting his way to the left by-line before cutting the ball back for Forrest to slide home his 13th goal of the season.

James Forrest scored his 13th goal of a productive season

Only two Brechin players had played at Celtic Park before, and the Championship strugglers were not enjoying this cup tie.

Celtic's dominance continued, efforts from Kristoffer Ajer, Ntcham and Sinclair coming close to adding to their lead.

But they didn't have to wait long. Callum McGregor pounced on an ill-advised attempt to pass the ball out of his own box by Paul McLean and set up Sinclair for an easy finish.

Sinclair's agent and inspiration Cyrille Regis died this week, the former West Brom and England forward's passing marked by a minute's applause before kick-off.

Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata scored his side's fourth goal with a header

Brechin saw very little of the ball, but they did have one effort in the first half. Jordan Sinclair broke through but his effort was cleared away.

But Celtic were well on top and you sensed they would add to their tally in the second half.

Ntcham's terrific header from Mikael Lustig's floated cross made it 3-0, and seven minutes later Boyata rose well to head in McGregor's pass.

Brechin did force Craig Gordon into a great save from McLean's header, and moments later Sean Crichton fired wide, while substitute Issac Layne's effort in the 72nd minute also drifted wide.

Despite those chances for the visitors, Edouard's smart finish - collecting Lustig's pass and smashing the ball inside the near post - completed the rout.

Post-match reaction:

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "It was a good game for us to come back to after three weeks away. It was a professional performance.

"We scored some good goals; we created other chances and could have scored more, but we are happy with five.

"Credit to Brechin; it is tough being a part-time team when nearly everyone else in their league is full-time, but they showed their spirit today and defended well at times.

"We won three trophies last season, we have got one this season and we want to go on and win more.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says there has been "some interest" in striker Moussa Dembele

"We definitely want to get some more players in before the end of January, to help with the creativity in the team. We certainly want to strengthen.

"I don't know [if Moussa Dembele will still be here]. Time will tell. He is very much a Celtic player. There has been some interest in him, of course, but nothing official."

Brechin City manager Darren Dods: "We got off to the worst possible start. We knew all week it was going to be difficult and Celtic would be a strong team. We lose a goal after the first minute then we're 2-0 down after 10 minutes, with an uncharacteristic error for the second goal.

"It was maybe just the occasion. After that we could have crumbled, but we managed to regain our composure and see it through to half-time.

"Credit to the players, they kept going, kept pushing themselves. We did work their goalie late on. It was pleasing to come here and get a few chances. It's a level most of them have never played at and they take the experience."