Two first half goals earned Celtic a narrow 2-1 over Alloa Athletic and a place in the Scottish Cup fifth-round.
The visitors opened the scoring after 14 minutes when a Liam Scales cross was met by Giorgos Giakoumakis with a volley at the front post. Liel Abada then scored with a cultured finish before half-time. Celtic could have extended their lead but substitute Alan Trouten’s introduction added energy to the home side in the second half and fellow substitute Stefan Scougall’s crossed to the back post for Connor Sammon to head home with 12 minutes remaining.
Kallum Higginbotham’s breakaway goal in extra time gave League Two side Kelty Hearts a sensational 1-0 win at home over cup holders St Johnstone in the biggest shock of the day. It is another blow to hapless St Johnstone who sit at the foot of the Premiership table having lost their last 10 matches after winning the cup double last season.
Liam Boyce scored two goals on his return from injury as Heart of Midlothian defeated West of Scotland league side Auchinleck Talbot 5-0 at Beechwood. Andy Halliday, Peter Haring and Alex Cochrane were also on target.
First-half goals from Kyle McAllister and Greg Kiltie secured the win for Jim Goodwin’s side.
Ayo Oblieye’s 16th-minute penalty narrowly won Livingston the all Premiership tie at home to Ross County. Fellow top-flight team St Mirren sealed their place in the fifth round with a 2-0 victory at Ayr United.
Aberdeen eased their way into the fifth round after a dominant 3-0 win over Edinburgh City of League Two.
The Dons were never troubled by their lower-league opponents and first-half strikes from Ryan Hedges and Christian Ramirez had the match won, before Lewis Ferguson added a third after 90 minutes with a looping header.
Dylan Levitt scored in extra-time as Dundee United edged through 2-1 against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. United started in the right vein with Marc McNulty’s strike but Killie levelled the scoring 16 minutes later through Rory McKenzie.
Championship high-fliers Arbroath beat Darvel 3-0 with three goals from Jack Hamilton at Gayfield Park while an extra-time strike from Liam Donnelly won Motherwell a hard-fought tie with Morton 2-1 at Fir Park.
