The substitute David Bingham's late goal for Dunfermline raised only faint hopes of a comeback in this fourth-round tie at East End Park after Harald Brattbakk had added to Stephane Mahe's opener for Celtic.

Brattbakk's close-range shot had always seemed likely to secure Celtic's meeting with Dundee United or Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the quarter-finals.

Celtic, having already lost to Dunfermline and beaten them narrowly twice, knew this tie would provide them with another hard night, but the Glasgow side dominated the first half.

Their failure to take advantage of some powerful surges towards Ian Westwater, however, allowed the home side a little self-belief and Dunfermline would have taken the lead near the break but for an astonishing save by Jonathan Gould. The goalkeeper somehow kept out a powerful downward header from Andy Tod after the big defender had received an impeccable cross from Stewart Petrie.

Long before, however, Westwater had blocked Henrik Larsson inside the area and Morten Wieghorst looked a little unfortunate to have a goal disallowed for offside when he arrived at the back post to knock home Mahe's low cross.

Westwater also had to stick out a foot to prevent Brattbakk from scoring in the last minute of the first half and when Celtic did take the lead, five minutes into the second half, the goal came from an unlikely source, the left-back Mahe.

The move began wide on the right when Larsson played the ball square to Wieghorst. The towering Dane immediately swept it left to Mahe, who came inside Greg Shields and shaped to centre. Instead the Frenchman turned back outside the defender and gave himself room for a low left-foot drive which was deflected inside the far post.

The goal signalled a rush of chances for the visitors and Burley's brilliant chip from 20 yards would have found the corner but for Westwater's leap to fingertip the ball wide. Burley, who had earlier produced a fierce 30-yard drive which the goalkeeper could not hold, then fired another long-range effort marginally wide.

After 67 minutes, Celtic did double their advantage and it was a sweet moment at last for the beleaguered Brattbakk, the Norwegian's having only scored once previously since his move from Rosenborg. McNamara raced away on the right hand side and weighted his pass perfectly into the stride of Brattbakk who struck the ball in from close range.

Larsson should have put the match beyond Dunfermline's reach after 70 minutes when it opened up for the Swede, but he shot wide when well-placed.

The home side's decision to bring on Bingham for George Shaw after 77 minutes bore swift fruit. Four minutes after taking the field Bingham met a near-post cross from fellow substitute Hamish French to reduce the deficit, but their recovery act ran out of time.

"I am very happy for Harald as it is important for him to have scored such a vital goal," said Celtic manager Wim Jansen afterwards. "Hopefully he can do the same in the matches which follow."