Ewan Murray was at Hampden and his report has landed. Congratulations to Celtic, commiserations to Rangers, and thanks for reading this MBM!
Brendan Rodgers talks to the BBC. “It was very tense … you don’t need to be perfect, you just need to win, and we did that in the end … we found an energy and kept going … the desire to keep pushing … in the end we got the winner … the mentality has been unbelievable … it’s been a fantastic season to win a double … it can become expectation but you never get tired of it … it was a very tight game … Rangers came in with a big motivation so we knew we had to fight … it’s our 50th game of the season … we need a good rest but the phone won’t stop.”
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Such a sweet moment on the BBC. Greg Taylor is being interviewed while the rest of the Celtic team line up arm in arm as their fans serenade them with an emotional rendition of club anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. He breaks off mid-sentence. “I wanna go join that! Can I go join that?” He’s allowed. “Cheers! Thank you!” A grateful smile and he trots off to work his way into the line, link arms, and drink in the moment.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is first up the stairs for Celtic, but it’s the last man in line, captain Callum McGregor, who lifts the famous old trophy! He’s assisted by the outgoing Joe Hart, the pair taking one handle each. The cup’s passed around the squad, the Celtic faithful roaring with delight every time it’s hoisted into the Hampden sky. Brendan Rodgers watches on in avuncular fashion. After they descend the stairs, Philippe Clement comes across to do the honourable thing. A warm handshake and the defeated boss disappears down the tunnel, as Celtic begin their on-pitch party!
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Brendan Rodgers is all smiles, as you’d expect. Waving up to the stands and the fans. Rod Stewart a content man. Philippe Clement, not so much, and he gathers his shattered players in a huddle for a post-match debrief. James Tavernier leads his team up the Hampden stairs to pick up their silver medals. Quite a few disappointed faces.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor speaks to the BBC. “The mentality in this group … we just want to win trophies … it’s never going to be perfect … Rangers are a good side … this group find a moment of quality and stick together … this is the first one in 22 years against Rangers so it’s special … I’m delighted … we turned up and we delivered again!”
The goalscoring hero Adam Idah talks to the BBC. “I came here to try to score as many goals as I can … I didn’t think I would score a goal like this … it’s quite hard to put into words … I can see what it means to the fans … especially from a boy, being Irish, supporting Celtic, it’s amazing … I do love it here but I’m still contracted with Norwich … who knows what’s going to happen?”
Celtic didn’t play well. Not to their usual standard, anyway, not by a long chalk. But they dug in and ground out a result, the on-loan Adam Idah capitalising on Jack Butland’s late error to score his ninth and most important goal for the club! Brendan Rodgers offers Philippe Clement his commiserations; Clement tells the referee how he sees it. No doubt he’s incensed by Abdallah Sima’s disallowed goal, but Nicolas Raskin needlessly pushed Joe Hart, and it was the right decision to chalk it off. Rangers were probably the better side in the second half but their final-third decision-making let them down. Celtic cavort. Half of Hampden is in raptures. The other half is quickly thinning out.
FULL TIME: Celtic 1-0 Rangers
Celtic win the Scottish Cup for the 42nd time! A 13th league-and-cup double!
90 min +10: Celtic keep hold of the ball as the clock runs down.
90 min +9: O’Riley draws a foul from Lundstram. That’s surely Lundstram’s last act in a Rangers shirt.
90 min +8: The ball bobbles around aimlessly. There’ll probably be another 60 seconds or so for that VAR check.
90 min +7: Rangers have nothing left. The Celtic fans en fête.
90 min +6: Nope, it’s all fine. Rangers still with 11 men, but time is not their friend.
90 min +5: Play is stopped while VAR checks for a possible red card for Diomande. Head gone, he took a couple of wild swipes at Maeda. No real connection, though.
90 min +4: Idah wins a corner. Before it can be taken, Lundstram replaces Raskin. Then nothing comes of the corner, other than a yellow card for a petulant Maeda.
90 min +3: Rangers haven’t been brilliant. But they’ve probably been the better side in this second half. However the final ball’s been lacking, and Celtic have suckered them with a classic rope-a-dope attack!
90 min +2: Kuhn is booked for a late lunge. Then Raskin picks one up for skittling Idah.
90 min +1: That’s a big mistake by Butland. Can his team-mates dig him out of a hole? They’ve got eight additional minutes to save him.
GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Rangers (Idah 90)
Bernardo spins in the centre circle and drives down the middle. He batters a shot towards the bottom left. Butland parries but only manages to tee up Idah, who follows up and slams home! Surely the dramatic winner!
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89 min: Maeda brings down a diagonal ball with great elegance, and tears past Tavernier in one smooth movement. He enters the box but overruns the ball and Butland claims.
88 min: Rangers continue to look the stronger side and more likely to snatch a late winner. Wright spins Johnston and appears to have won a corner but the officials disagree. Goal kick, and smoke begins to pour from Wright’s lugs.
86 min: Raskin drives hard down the middle of the park, and for a second, it’s three on three. He slips the ball right for Sima, who bobbles a dreadful shot straight at Hart. That was a very promising situation, but it came to very little.
84 min: … so having said that, Celtic attempt to launch a counter, and Yilmaz is booked for grabbing a handful of Johnston’s shirt.
83 min: Yilmaz crosses long from the left. Sima tries to guide a header across Hart but the keeper claims. Rangers are beginning to dominate, with most of the play in Celtic’s half at the moment.
82 min: Tavernier’s corner is headed behind by Idah at the near post. Take two. Idah knocks this one behind at the near post too. Third time lucky for Rangers? Nope. Hart punches, then Bernardo hoicks clear.
81 min: Sterling can’t continue and is replaced by McCausland.
80 min: Before the corner can be taken, Sterling requires some treatment.
79 min: Raskin snaffles a loose ball on the edge of the Celtic box and barges down the inside-right channel. He whistles a low cross through the six-yard box. With Sima lurking, Carter-Vickers does exceptionally well to slide and knock the ball wide of the left-hand post. A corner, but it would have been so easy to put that into his own net.
79 min: Hatate is replaced by Bernardo.
78 min: Matondo spins elegantly into space and drives down the middle. He slips the ball wide right to Sterling, whose shot-cum-cross is deflected out for a corner. Matondo and Sterling should have made more of that opportunity with Celtic light at the back and on the back foot. Especially as nothing comes of the set piece.
76 min: Wright finds a little bit of space down the inside-left channel but over-elaborates instead of shooting and the chance, such as it is, is gone. Goal kick.
74 min: Cantwell and Silva make way for Wright and Matondo. As he leaves, Cantwell picks up a yellow card for giving some back to his pal Taylor. Some high-end eejitry on display by both sides right now.
73 min: Taylor becomes the latest to go into the referee’s notebook for sliding through the back of Cantwell then shoving his prone opponent in the chest. What’s the point in that?
71 min: Cantwell rolls a pass down the inside-right channel in the hope of releasing Sima. Not quite, but full marks for ambition. Meanwhile Forrest is replaced by Kuhn.
69 min: Tavernier wins a corner on the right. Diomande to swing it in. It’s dealt with easily enough by the Celtic defence.
68 min: Forrest flies into a tackle and flips Raskin into the air. Another booking. “Donnybrook ahoy!” chirps Simon McMahon.
66 min: All of that has got the crowd going. Not that the denizens of Hampden were particularly quiet anyway. Incidentally, Hart was booked for dissent during the discussions over the goal, and Idah has gone in the book for similar reasons.
64 min: The resulting free kick comes to nothing. Idah – who has just been sent on by Brendan Rodgers, surprisingly in place of Kyogo – is caught offside.
63 min: This is boiling over. Sterling comes sliding in on Taylor. It looks a good tackle, but Taylor goes over spectacularly, and Sterling is booked. McGregor and Carter-Vickers then square up to Diomande. The referee does well to keep a lid on it. For now.
62 min: That’s the correct decision, though Hart may not have been getting there anyway. Daft by Raskin to give VAR a decision to make. Hart gets away with his flap.
NO GOAL! Celtic 0-0 Rangers
61 min: The goal’s ruled out. There was a shove in the back. It wasn’t much of a shove, and the keeper didn’t do much to stand his ground, but it was two hands on. No goal!
60 min: Hart is livid, claiming he’s been shoved in the back by Raskin. VAR calls the referee over!
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GOAL! Celtic 0-1 Rangers (Sima 59)
Tavernier hits the corner long from the left. Hart comes for it but flaps. The ball gets all the way to Sima, kneeling down by the far post. He knees over the line from a yard, and Rangers take the lead!
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58 min: Cantwell drives at the Celtic back line and his shot is deflected out for a corner. From which …
57 min: Now Taylor and Sterling tangle. This match is threatening to spark into one of those.
56 min: Forrest dribbles in from the right but can’t get a decent shot away. The ball dribbles through to Butland.
54 min: Sima and Johnston tangle. The latter holds onto the former’s foot. The former is staunch in his attempt to reclaim it. The pair spring up and square up. Sima goes into the book. Johnston is fairly fortunate to escape censure for his success in deliberately winding up his opponent.
53 min: Cantwell skittles McGregor again, and he’s surely pushing his luck now. The referee keeps his yellow card in his pocket.
51 min: Cantwell clips McGregor, who springs up and asks the referee why there’s no yellow card. Given he’s already on one himself, the Celtic captain would be wise to pipe down lest he press all of the referee’s buttons in the correct order.
49 min: More of the scrappy stuff. Not too much has changed since the first half.
47 min: Play restarts, and Raskin has a whack from distance. The shot is blocked. Silva thinks he’s won a corner from the rebound but the flag pops up for offside.
46 min: Tavernier prepares to take a throw-in but is told to wait as smoke drifts across the pitch. The Rangers fans have been having a pyro party.
45 min 16 sec: A simple punt down the middle of the park nearly does for Rangers. Kyogo looks to latch onto it, but Butland reads the danger and races from his box to punt clear.
Rangers get the second half underway. They’ve replaced Dessers, who took a knock midway through the first half, with Sima.
Let’s see if tempting fate will give us a goal or two. The last Scottish Cup final to end 0-0 was the 1990 edition, which saw Aberdeen eventually overcome Celtic on penalties. It finished goalless after 90 minutes two years ago, when Rangers met Hearts, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side scored twice in extra time to win the trophy. So it doesn’t happen often.
Half-time entertainment. The drummer giving his kit laldie.
HALF TIME: Celtic 0-0 Rangers
There have been better halves of football. Joe Hart and Jack Butland haven’t had much to do.
45 min +1: Hart punches this one clear. There will be two added minutes.
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45 min: Cantwell attempts to release Silva down the left. The ball’s no good, but Silva presses Johnston and wins a very cheap corner. That’s some good pressing from Silva. Tavernier to take the corner. Rangers load the box. Tavernier whips it in. Hart is forced to tip the ball over the bar. Tavernier will have another go.
44 min: Philippe Clement is nevertheless livid, and earns himself a talking-to from the referee.
43 min: A long ball down the Rangers right. Sterling enters the box and goes over, claiming Scales barged him in the back. The referee does not agree. Rangers furious. Replays show Scales definitely shoved him, with both hands, though it was actually outside the penalty area, so VAR can’t intervene.
41 min: McGregor goes into the book for clipping and pulling back an in-flight Cantwell.
39 min: A weird one as Johnston dribbles down the right and appears to have taken the ball out for a goal kick. He crosses and Butland flaps, then the officials wave play on. Thankfully for those who tire easily of confected controversy, there’s nobody in green on the left wing to convert the loose ball. Rangers clear.
38 min: Cantwell’s not happy with Hatate but there was no real malice. Happily he’s able to continue.
36 min: Cantwell is clipped by Hatate. It’s a garden-variety foul, but Cantwell, who was mid-turn, catches his other leg in the turf as he twists and falls, and grabs his groin in pain. On comes the trainer.
34 min: It’s all a bit scrappy. Neither keeper has had any serious work to do.
32 min: Scales plays a risky backpass to Hart from the Celtic left flank. He’s fortunate that Dessers slips, because otherwise the Rangers man would have been able to intercept and take a whack at goal. The ball gets through to Hart, who clears.
31 min: Johnston makes an almighty nuisance of himself in the Rangers box. He’s swarmed yet somehow manages to get a shot away on the turn. The ball squirts towards the bottom right and Butland is forced to change direction and tip around the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
29 min: An old-fashioned rumble between McGregor and Sterling in the centre circle. Then Dessers clatters into Hatate. The heat suddenly cranked up to 11. Scottish Gas will be delighted.
27 min: The corner’s hit long. Dessers takes a spectacular overhead swish at the ball. Goal kick.
26 min: Rangers nearly compound their irritation by going up the other end and creating a scoring opportunity. Cantwell, causing bother on the right, crosses low for Dessers, who attempts to sweep home from the penalty spot. Blocked and out for yet another Rangers corner on the right. Diomande to take.
24 min: A low cross from the right. The ball rears up off Kyogo and onto Davies’ hand. Celtic want a penalty but his arm’s in a natural position and it all happened at close range. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Celtic not totally happy about that.
23 min: Celtic stroke it around for a bit. Hey, it’s about time we heard from Simon McMahon, isn’t it? “Cup final day!” he exclaims. “It was thirty years ago last Tuesday that Dundee United lifted the Scottish Cup for the first time, beating Walter Smith’s Rangers 1-0 at Hampden. Still feels like yesterday. After today, there’s only the small matter of the SPL play-off to be decided, the second leg of Ross County (2) v Raith Rovers (1) being played in Dingwall tomorrow. This season’s roll of honour has Celtic, Dundee United, Falkirk and Stenhousemuir as league winners, with Rangers claiming the Scottish League Cup in December. So today will see either a cup double for Rangers, or a league and cup double for Celtic. But, frankly, who cares? Scotland are in the Euro finals, and Dundee United are back, baby!” He’s going to be lost all summer without Clockwatch, isn’t he, readers?
21 min: Cantwell crosses from the right. Carter-Vickers slips and for a second it looks as though the mistake will allow Dessers a shot, but the Celtic man regains his composure to clear.
19 min: Taylor wedges into the Rangers box for O’Riley, who heads down for Hatate. A first-time shot is on target but blocked bravely by Davies. Both teams beginning to warm up in the final third.
18 min: Cantwell drives at the Celtic defence again. He’s got Sterling in acres on the right but doesn’t spot the pass. Instead the ball’s shifted left for Silva, who attempts to thread a shot across Hart and towards the bottom right. No power, though. Scottish Gas will be fuming. Easy for the keeper, who drops and smothers.
16 min: Cantwell strides purposefully down the middle and finds Dessers to his right. Dessers swings a leg at a shot but doesn’t connect properly. The ball nearly rebounds to Cantwell, but not quite, and the chance is gone.
14 min: Scales embarks on a Beckenbaueresque dribble down the middle, then ends up on the left wing. He eventually runs out of road, but it was fun while it lasted.
13 min: Sterling probes down the Rangers right. Then Maeda sends a header along the left flank and chases after it himself. Balogun nips in to halt his gallop. It’s end to end.
11 min: … but then again, it’s Rangers who are winning corners. Scales needlessly concedes one under the slightest pressure from Silva. Diomande takes again from the right, but Hart punches this one clear with confidence.
10 min: Pretty much as expected, Celtic are totally dominating possession. Rangers seem happy enough to sit back for now.
8 min: Carter-Vickers finds Maeda down the left. A low cross. Kyogo slides in at the near post but can only shin wide left. Maeda is already causing all sorts of problems for Rangers down the left flank.
7 min: Diomande’s corner is launched long. It drops by the far post, inviting someone to smash it goalwards, but there’s nobody in blue to take advantage. Celtic clear their lines. A fairly brisk start to this final.
6 min: Hatate slips a ball down the left for Maeda, who is in acres near the Rangers box. Fortunately for Rangers, Maeda slips, allowing Tavernier to intercept. Rangers counter and Cantwell’s shot is deflected out for the first corner of the game. Diomande will send it in from the right.
5 min: McGregor and Forrest combine cutely down the inside-right channel. For a second, it looks as though Forrest has the opportunity to shoot goalwards from just inside the box, but he’s quickly swarmed and the flag goes up for offside anyway.
4 min: Diomande plays a lovely long diagonal pass towards Dessers on the left. Dessers can’t successfully cut inside Johnston but that’s Rangers’ first showing in attack.
3 min: Maeda gets the better of Tavernier down the left but can’t burst past Balogun, who block-tackles well. Celtic dominant in these very early exchanges.
2 min: Celtic keep hold of the ball for a while. Dessers and Cantwell snap at their feet. A precedent set early doors?
Celtic get the ball rolling. Hampden is rocking.
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The teams are out! Celtic are nominally the home side, but for the first time this season, both sets of fans have been let into the stadium. So the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup final atmosphere, fuelled by 22 years of pent-up anticipation plus over a season gone without the opportunity to shout at each other, is pretty much as you’d imagine. It’s hotter than the Cookability Roadshow! It is warm in Mount Florida, to be fair.
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The cup-final suits. No great surprises here, all very small-c conservative. The Spice Boys really did for fashion statements, didn’t they. Having said that, not 100 percent sure Bill Struth would have approved of Dujon Sterling’s cap, but then it’s a long time since Rangers players were made to wear bowler hats on match days.
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Pre-match reading. Ewan Murray previews this first Old Firm Scottish Cup final for 22 years.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers speaks to the BBC. “It’s a wonderful occasion and one we’re really excited about … I didn’t need to change too much to the team … we arrive here playing some fantastic football and fighting for each other so no need to change … this is a different game, you still have to turn up to perform … they are only hurdles, we need to get over them … we look to impose our way … if we do that we have a great chance … this is a club that’s steeped in a great history of winning, but it’s also for this team to create its own history of winning and keep winning … we’ve won a fantastic title race and now we come into the Scottish Cup which has its own history and we want to add to that.”
Rangers boss Philippe Clement talks to the BBC. “These are the great moments … this is the second best thing to be here as a manager … the nicest is to be on the pitch … I know that feeling and to win things … it is an amazing occasion to have the Old Firm in the final … [keeping John Lundstram on the bench] is to do with fitness … he has played a lot of minutes this season … around 5,000 … it is a lot of games … I expect a really intense start … Nicolas [Raskin] has been pushing really hard … we go for his intensity at the beginning of the game, maybe Lundy will come later … we have had one training with the team that’s going to start today … you start with XI and you never finish with those XI so we worked with the whole squad.”
Celtic name the same XI they started with in the decisive league derby at Parkhead a fortnight ago. The in-form James Forrest out on the wing. Joe Hart makes his last appearance for the Bhoys. Kyogo, with seven goals in 13 derbies, leads the line.
John Lundstram is back for Rangers after his suspension for his sending off in that aforementioned Old Firm stramash. He’s only on the bench, though. Leon Balogun returns from injury, while 22-goal Cyriel Dessers is their main man up front.
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The teams
Celtic: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, O’Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Forrest, Kyogo, Maeda.
Subs: Palma, Idah, Kuhn, Nawrocki, Iwata, Bernardo, Bain, Ralston, Welsh.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Balogun, Davies, Yilmaz, Raskin, Diomande, Sterling, Cantwell, Silva, Dessers.
Subs: Lundstram, Jack, Matondo, Sima, Dowell, Wright, McCrorie, McCausland, McKinnon.
Referee: Nick Walsh.
📋 Here's how we line up for the #ScottishCupFinal 🟢⚪️#CELRAN | #COYBIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/Ac79V2DVqO
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 25, 2024
🆕 Today’s #RangersFC team for the @ScottishCup Final.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) May 25, 2024
🗒️ Full Team News: https://t.co/avuISTPk53 pic.twitter.com/CCqXnvFcfl
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Earlier this morning, the family of Walter Smith unveiled a statue of the legendary Rangers manager outside Ibrox. Smith led Rangers to the Scottish Cup on five occasions, in 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008 and 2009. Ten league titles, six League Cups and a Uefa Cup final appearance as well; that’s some haul.
Celtic are also remembering old heroes today. It’s the 57th anniversary of their greatest hour.
Preamble
Two weeks ago this happened …
… but then the last time these two famous old rivals met in the Scottish Cup final this happened …
… and in any case, all bets, whether placed using money issued by the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland or Clydesdale Bank, are off whenever the Old Firm meet. Kick-off at Hampden Park is at 3pm. It’s on!
