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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

'Wonderful performance' - Celtic pundits react to Scottish Cup win over Rangers

Celtic booked their spot in the Scottish Cup final and took another step towards a treble with a victory over Rangers at Hampden.

Ange Postecoglou's men earned a 1-0 win over their Glasgow rivals at the national stadium to set up a final showdown with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Jota's header in the first half was enough to take the win despite Celtic having to withstand sustained pressure in the second half.

The club will secure the Scottish Premiership with one more win and could celebrate a domestic treble should they overcome Championship side Inverness in the final in June.

Here's what the pundits had to say on the victory at Hampden...

Chris Sutton

"We'll probably hear the Rangers players come out tomorrow and say that we will see the real Rangers in the final (derby) game of the season which essentially doesn't matter.

"All this closing the gap stuff, there's no closing the gap cup, it's a huge, huge summer for Rangers.

"There were passengers today, Michael Beale has hung his hat on Alfredo Morelos and over the years has been a good Rangers player, but he's been an absolute disgrace."

Martin O'Neill

Ange Postecoglou after the match said: "You have to enjoy it. They are hard-earned. As special as I think I am there is always a legend that I am chasing who says 'I've done all that before'.

"That is the nature of this football club. I think it's important that you enjoy it, but we haven't done the job yet."

O'Neill commented: "I think you are doing pretty ok."

Postecoglou then replied: "Well, thank you. I appreciate that. It means a lot."

Michael Stewart

“I think what you saw in the second half was a full-team performance from Celtic. In the first half, they had the cutting edge up top and got themselves 1-0 in front.

“In the second half, you saw the defence put in a wonderful performance led by Cameron Carter-Vickers. I’m not surprised that Chris [Sutton] gave him Man of the Match as he was outstanding. You see balls being thrown into the box and there’s a certain expectation that you think Celtic are going to deal with it.

“There’s a big part to play in that you feel that Celtic are going to do what they need to do. And at the moment I get the sense that the Rangers players don’t feel that they are going to win the game either. There is a real lack of belief there.

“That man there, Ange Postecoglou he’s a real character. He’s a real figurehead and he’s instilled that in Celtic. Because when he went into Celtic there was big changes needing to happen and there was big changes going to happen. And he’s been at the forefront of that and he’s leading them to his first-ever treble here.”

Tom English

"Nothing that happened today surprised me.

"When Celtic play well, they have Rangers' number. When Celtic don't play well, they still beat them.

"This game today was Rangers' season, but if you are taking comfort from an improved second half, you are in a pretty grim place."

Pat Bonner

"Celtic had to show a different side today.

"Both centre-backs were very, very good. They had to hang in there.

"They kept them in the game because Rangers dominated second half."

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