Hibernian booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup after their superiority showed in the second half as they recorded a 3-1 victory at Inverness.
Myziane Maolida broke the deadlock for Hibernian before Martin Boyle doubled their advantage and Elie Youan scored their third – a minute from time – to ensure the Premiership side are in Sunday’s last-eight draw.
Aaron Doran pulled one back in second-half stoppage-time for the Championship hosts, who rarely threatened to pull off a shock during the match.
Hibernian made three changes from their narrow 2-1 defeat to Celtic on Wednesday as Eliezer Mayenda and Luke Amos made their first starts for the club, with Maolida also brought into the starting line-up. Dylan Levitt, Dylan Vente and Youan were all dropped to the bench for Hibernian.
Inverness made two changes to the team that lost at Queen’s Park last week as Sean McAllister and James Carragher were brought in for injured duo Danny Devine and Alex Samuel.
The hosts went into the match with a poor home record in the league, with only two wins at home in the Championship all season.
Hibernian were gifted a chance to take the lead early on after goalkeeper Mark Ridgers sliced his clearance and the ball fell to Nathan Moriah-Welsh at the edge of the box.
However, a last-ditch tackle from on loan Leeds defender Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen prevented him from getting a shot on goal to the relief of the hosts.
Mayenda then had an opportunity midway through the first half when he was unchallenged at the edge of the box and fired a powerful drive, but Ridgers pulled off a great save to keep the game goalless.
Hibernian pressed for the opener just before half-time when Carragher did well to divert Jordan Obita’s cross out for a corner.
The ball then fell to Joe Newell at the edge of the box but he blasted over the crossbar.
The visitors eventually broke the deadlock – 10 minutes in the second half – when Comoros international Maolida, who is on loan from Hertha Berlin, saw his shot take a deflection off Chilokoa-Mullen.
His shot wrong-footed Ridgers, who could only watch helplessly as the ball flew out of reach and into the net.
They almost doubled their advantage minutes later when substitute Levitt fired a powerful low drive from the edge of the box, which forced another great save from Ridgers to keep the deficit at one.
Inverness came close to an equaliser midway through the second half when Max Anderson’s cross found the head of Cammy Kerr, but his header struck the crossbar.
Hibs doubled their advantage with 12 minutes remaining after Morgan Boyes miskicked a clearance, which allowed Boyle to pounce on.
The Australia international then charged towards goal and ran past goalkeeper Ridgers before firing into an empty net.
Hibernian killed the game at the death as Boyle charged down the right wing and played the ball in the box for Youan to slot home a simple tap in.
Doran did pull back a consolation for Caley in injury time as his powerful shot in the box flew past David Marshall, but it was too little too late.
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
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