Never mind the Easter Bunny. In Daizen Maeda, Celtic have a player who shares far more in common with the Duracell Bunny.
In this five-goal demolition of St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, the relentless Maeda scored twice to ensure that Celtic remain firmly on track to win another Treble.
The Japanese striker now has 34 goals this season for club and country, underlining his credentials as the probable winner of this season’s PFA Scotland Player of the Year.
His two goals — both smartly taken, one with his right foot and the other with his left — came in a 12-minute blitz in the first half which blew St Johnstone away and killed the tie.
Simo Valakari’s men had beaten Celtic 1-0 in Perth a fortnight ago in the Premiership, but the chances of lightning striking twice always looked slim.
From the moment skipper Callum McGregor put them ahead on 34 minutes, this was little more than a stroll in the Sunday sunshine in Mount Florida for Brendan Rodgers’ Cup holders.
And so continues Rodgers’ remarkable record in the Scottish Cup. Across his two spells in Glasgow, he has never lost in this competition, winning all 21 matches.
Celtic will now face Aberdeen at Hampden in the final on May 24, red-hot favourites to make it another clean sweep of trophies under Rodgers.
After that shock defeat in Perth, Rodgers had been fiercely critical of his team’s performance and indicated that major changes will happen in the summer. That will come in time. But, in the here and now, this was essentially a revenge mission. Utterly merciless, they dismantled St Johnstone in comprehensive fashion.
The Saints have won this competition twice in the past 11 years, including a famous cup double in 2021, but they were swatted aside as an irrelevance here yesterday.
The priority for Valakari and his players must now be to refocus their efforts in their bid to escape relegation.
St Johnstone had won every game 1-0 en route to Hampden, as well as beating Celtic by that scoreline two weeks ago, but they were battered on this occasion.
Playing on the tight, bumpy surface at McDiarmid Park was essentially a different sport to what unfolded on the manicured expanses at Hampden.
At the end of a week which had seen one of Celtic’s players in an ill-advised episode in the back of a taxi, it was St Johnstone who were left feeling a little green around the gills.
Rodgers stuck with the same team that thrashed Kilmarnock 5-1 last weekend, which meant James Forrest and Adam Idah both retained their places ahead of Nicolas Kuhn and Jota.
St Johnstone were short of bodies in defence, with midfielder Sven Sprangler having to drop into the back five, whilst veteran striker Nicky Clark was also brought in up front.
As the teams emerged from the tunnel at a sun-kissed Hampden, it probably felt like a home game for Celtic due to the overwhelming sea of green all around the place.
For a Scottish Cup semi-final at the national stadium, and with a 3pm kick-off, the St Johnstone section was sparsely populated with around 3,000 punters in attendance.
There were two tiny pockets of blue tucked away in a corner, one of which became engulfed in smoke early in the match after their fans had indulged in a display of pyrotechnics.
Hoping for a repeat performance from two weeks ago, Saints boss Valakari would have been relatively pleased with what he saw in the early stages.
Although his team were camped deep and having to do a lot of defending, they limited Celtic to a few speculative efforts from long range.
A McGregor daisy-cutter stung the palms of Andy Fisher, while Arne Engels fired an effort towards goal after a smart turn and swivel on the edge of the box.
In the recent 1-0 victory in Perth, St Johnstone had scored early through Daniels Balodis and held on for a result which belied the league table of this being top versus bottom.
But they buckled spectacularly this time around, losing four goals in a ten-minute burst just before half-time as Celtic essentially killed the tie.
McGregor started the rout on 34 minutes, with the Saints defence standing off and inviting the Celtic skipper to curl a precise finish well beyond the reach of Fisher.
Just four minutes later, Maeda made it 2-0. Latching on to a through ball from McGregor which Sam Curtis failed to cut out, Maeda calmly slotted into the far corner.
It was swiftly turning into a hammering, with Idah converting from close range from a Reo Hatate cutback after a good pass from Liam Scales had cut St Johnstone open.
Maeda then got his second of the afternoon as, once again, St Johnstone’s defence stood off the Celtic striker and allowed him to drill a left-foot shot beyond Fisher from inside the box.
With their day ruined, and their team pleading for mercy, some St Johnstone fans headed for the exits as the half-time whistle sounded. They missed what was almost a brilliant consolation 10 minutes into the second half when Makenzie Kirk, on as a sub at the break, lasered one into the top corner from 25 yards.
But VAR would deny the St Johnstone man his moment of glory after Balodis was deemed to have fouled Idah with a push in the back during the build-up.
It’s been a strange week for Idah. Even in the demolition of Kilmarnock last weekend, his performance was poor and fresh questions were being asked.
During the week, footage had emerged of Celtic’s £9million striker looking the worse for wear in the back of a taxi, although Rodgers stressed yesterday that Idah hadn’t vomited in the clip.
It was probably Valakari who was beginning to feel a little queasy as the match wore on, especially when Celtic brought on the cavalry of Kuhn, Jota and Luke McCowan on the hour.
Barely five minutes after their introduction, Kuhn’s pass allowed Alistair Johnston to send the ball over to the far post, where Jota came steaming in to convert and make it 5-0.
By this point, had it been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it. Battered and wearied, there was a danger this could yet cause lasting damage to St Johnstone in their bid to avoid relegation.
Uche Ikpeazu came off the bench for a long-awaited debut after an injury nightmare since joining last summer, but it was a lost cause.
Where Maeda had been decisive with two goals, his countryman Hatate was no less impressive and eventually wound up with three assists by the time he left the field.
As the Celtic fans dispersed into the late afternoon sunshine, they could perhaps enjoy the last hour or two in a nearby beer garden on Easter Sunday.
As for St Johnstone, it had long been evident that this would be an afternoon where sorrows would have to be drowned.