Same old Alloa but was it same new Celtic? The details behind Hoops' Scottish Cup victory

Ange Postecoglou made five changes to the starting XI from the Premiership win over Hibernian for the visit to the Wasps, who pulled a late goal back through Conor Sammon.

Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Liam Scales, Yosuke Ideguchi and Giakoumakis came in for Josip Juranovic, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Greg Taylor, Reo Hatate and James Forrest.

In total, nine Celtic players made their Scottish Cup debuts alongside the manager over the course of the 90 minutes.

The victory - which sets up a home tie against Championship side Raith Rovers in the next round - came at a cost as Ideguchi, Abada and captain Callum McGregor were all forced off injured.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the WyScout data from the game to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG/trendline

The trendline reflects what many will have discerned via the eye test: a laborious night in which Celtic chipped away at an opponent who brought virtually nothing in response until the final 10 minutes or so.

Ultimately the Hoops manufactured enough opportunities to score once in each half so, although both goals actually came in the first 45, their final tally is roughly in tune with the chances they created. 

Sammon's goal accounted for 70 per cent of Alloa's total xG, reinforcing the notion that while they came alive late on there was rarely any real danger. 

Shots

Celtic took 14 shots, with half of those on target, five going wide and two blocked. 

Three of their five 'best' chances fell to Giakoumakis. The Greek striker converted the first in exquisite style in the 14th minute before leaving many fans frustrated by not squaring to Daizen Maeda 60 seconds later.

The Japan international was the beneficiary of the other two of Celtic's top five quality chances but fired wide right-footed in the 72nd minute before finding the same outcome with his left foot in the 92nd. 

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Liam Scales impresses again and Giorgos Giakoumakis finally scores

Alloa managed six shots with two on target, three going wide and one blocked.

The Wasps might have had three attempts after their 78th-minute goal but their best chance was actually Sammon's opportunistic half-volley from a slack McGregor backpass in the 27th minute which Hart saved.

Possession, passing and positions

Celtic's pass map reflects the notion that they spent much of the game camped in the Alloa half. Indeed, Joe Hart aside, Stephen Welsh was the only Hoops player to spend the majority of his time in the defensive half.

The bunched-up nature of the Celtic shape - in which it was difficult to garner a clear focal point amid the oppositions deep block - is reinforced by the fact 82 per cent of Hoops possessions reached Alloa's half but only 17 per cent made it to the Wasps' penalty area.

When it came to key passes, Postecoglou's side accumulated 11. These were shared fairly evenly with Scales, Ralston, Jota and Tom Rogic all clocking two apiece. 

Barry Ferguson's side pretty much stuck to their broad 4-1-4-1 shape and it is no surprise their average positioning includes the vast majority of the team spending the match in their own half.

In terms of opposition key passes, the Wasps managed four. All of these were during the second half with two (including the goal) coming down Celtic's left flank, one on the right and one in the penalty area.

Pressing and defending

For PPDA, remember the lower the number the more effective a team's high press.

Celtic's 5.6 marked a return closer to their season average after a mark of 10.55 against Hibernian earlier in the week.

They coupled this with a higher recoveries-per-minute rate than Alloa - a value higher than the League Cup final v Hibs - while the maps below help illustrate where most of the game was contested in terms of duels.

Ground duels v Alloa

Aerial duels v Alloa Athletic

The latter map, in particular, reflects Celtic's relative struggles in the air against the physicality of Sammon (although he actually only won half his 20 duels) and Alloa in general.

No Celt who competed for more than one aerial duel had even a 50 per cent win rate except Carl Starfelt (just less than 67 per cent with two out of three won) while Alloa were successful in four of their five crosses, scoring from one. Celtic completed 13 of their 23 crosses, also scoring from one.

Overall, Celtic's 35 per cent aerial success rate was a full 12 per cent worse than their average over the past five games and 16 per cent off their season average.