Celtic 6-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Moussa Dembele scored his second hat-trick in two games as Celtic routed Inverness Caledonian Thistle to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

Dembele doubled the lead with a shot that squirmed under Owain Fon Williams.

The striker tucked away his second shortly after the break and headed another before Kieran Tierney nodded home and Scott Brown struck the sixth.

The draw for the next round will be made on Sunday evening.

Dembele delivers again

France Under-21 striker Dembele, who scored three as a substitute in last week's league win over St Johnstone, was back in the starting line-up and his strength and movement stretched an Inverness side shorn of confidence after a difficult season so far that has them bottom of the Premiership.

After Lustig's delicate opener, James Forrest teed the ball up for Dembele at the edge of the box and the former Fulham forward's shot found its way past Fon Williams, who could not get a strong enough hand on it.

For his second, Dembele converted a loose ball on the left side of the box after David Raven's tackle on Scott Sinclair.

And Forrest set up another for the home side's top scorer, lifting the ball on to his head for a straightforward finish.

The 20-year-old's day was rounded off by an ovation from the crowd as he was replaced with Nadir Ciftci.

Long day ahead of a long trip home

Though Celtic were heavy favourites to progress, Inverness had travelled to Glasgow as the only Scottish team not to lose to Brendan Rodgers' side this season.

That 2-2 league draw in September was the last time Celtic had failed to win domestically.

But there were few signs that the Highlanders would be able to stop their hosts reaching the last eight as Rodgers' men dominated possession.

The Premiership leaders did lack accuracy in the final third until Bitton's excellent pass was taken down deftly and touched in by Sweden full-back Lustig for the opener.

A corner flicked on by Billy Mckay and cleared was the extent of the visitors' attacking threat in the first half and they did not fare much better after the break.

Forrest ably assists

At 4-0, Forrest should have marked his impressive performance with a goal when he intercepted a woeful pass across the Inverness box by Gary Warren but contrived to shoot wide.

Earlier, Bitton had fired off target and Sinclair also went close, but Tierney did find the net with a powerful header off another Forrest delivery.

Brown then got the break of the ball in stoppage time to lash past Fon Williams.

And with the League Cup won in November and a 27-point lead in the league, Celtic remain on course for a domestic treble.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "When we had the ball, I thought we were outstanding. The final third, we were so incisive.

"You see the level of his [Moussa Dembele's] game. He's got a natural instinct to score. He's got a top-class temperament.

"The value of the team is improving all the time with performing well."

Inverness CT manager Richie Foran: "Outclassed, simple as that. Six-nil is a tough one.

"We went and had a go at the start and that's all I could ask from the lads.

"This is one of the best Celtic teams assembled in a good few years. They've got confidence running through their veins. There was no stopping them."