Celtic 3 (Taylor 55, Maeda 60, Kuhn 86) Rangers 3 (Bajrami 41, Diomande 75, Danilo 87)
(Celtic won 5-4 on penalties after Extra-Time)
Attendance 49,420
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Rangers were denied the retention of the Scottish League Cup at Hampden on Sunday afternoon by the cruellest and narrowest of margins – in a penalty shoot-out following a 3-3 draw with Celtic – but were controversially denied a clear penalty in extra-time with the referee judging a clear foul to have occurred OUTSIDE the box, although replays clearly suggested otherwise, the main talking-point afterwards being why VAR did not intervene.
Philippe Clement made two changes with Leon Balogun coming in for the injured John Souttar and Ianis Hagi for Ridvan Yilmaz.
Rangers made a lively start with an angled Hagi shot in the sixth minute beaten away by ‘keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Nicholas Kuhn threatened on the right for Celtic on the quarter-hour mark, his run carrying him deep in Light Blue territory before Jack Butland blocked his shot, the loose ball falling to Reo Hatate whose effort was similarly diverted by the ‘keeper’s leg.
Rangers may have gone into this Final as underdogs – but they were certainly giving as good as they got in these opening exchanges – three minutes later Balogun’s header from a James Tavernier cross was held by Schmeichel.
Conditions were difficult – with a strong wind and difficult pitch – but if anything it was the Ibrox men who had the upper hand in the opening 45 minutes, underlined in the 41st minute when Nedim Bajrami intercepted a Greg Taylor ball to break across the halfway line before finding Hamza Igamane whose low shot was parried by Schmeichel only for Bajrami to follow up, turning the loose ball home.
The interval arrived with ‘Gers still one ahead – and certainly worthy of their lead. Indeed the first clear opportunity following the restart arrived when Bajrami broke free in a counter-attack in a four against two advantage only to squander the opportunity with a misplaced pass.
That would prove to be a crucial turning–point – for the scores were levelled on 55 minutes when, following a Celtic corner, Taylor’s twenty-yard shot finding the back of the net with the aid of a wicked deflection.
If that was bad enough worse was to follow when – on the hour – Nico Raskin’s headed pass back to Balogun was woefully short, allowing Daizen Maeda to streak clear before slotting the ball home.
Clement immediately made his first substitution of the game when Yilmaz was introduced for Jefte – and midway through the second-half there was a second change in the Light Blue ranks when Dujan Sterling came on for Balogun.
Rangers were up against it now – but came roaring back with Schmeichel twice making outstanding saves from Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomande.
The equaliser was only delayed however – a clever near-post flick from Diomande following a Hagi corner making it 2-2.
With time running out and extra-time looming, Danilo replaced Bajrami in the 85th minute – just in time to see Celtic regain the lead when Kuhn played a one-two with substitute Arne Engels before netting from the latter’s cutback.
It was surely game over now so late in the game – but Rangers came right back with an equaliser within 21 SECONDS of the restart when Danilo rose to head home a pinpoint Cerny cross.
Extra-time it was – and Rangers were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty three minutes in when Liam Scales fouled Cerny, Referee John Beaton awarding a free-kick on the edge of the area and yellow-carded the Celt, yet replays clearly show the incident occurring INSIDE the area, the main question being why VAR did not intervene.
The remainder of extra-time produced little of note – save for the card-happy referee penalising every incident, failing to take account of the tired limbs amongst both sets of players.
Penalties it was – and although Tavernier, Hagi, Danilo and Butland (of all people) did the business from twelve yards Yilmaz saw his spot-kick saved by Schmeichel, and with Celtic netting all five efforts Rangers were out of luck.
Celtic: Schmeichel; Johnston (Ralston 70), Carter-Vickers, Trusty (Scales 46), Taylor (Valle 91); Kuhn (Forrest 116), McGregor, Bernardo (Engels 70), Hatate, Maeda; Furuhashi (Idah 75)
Unused Subs: Sinisalo, Palma, Yang
Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Balogun (Sterling 67), Propper, Jefte (Yilmaz 61); Cerny (Dowell 116), Diomande (Barron 116), Raskin, Bajrami (Danilo 86), Hagi; Igamane (Dessers 101)
Unused Subs: Kelly, King, McCausland
Referee: John Beaton
