BRENDAN RODGERS may remember it as his imperfect ten.
But the history books don’t show how a team wins cup finals.
Just that they do.
And for everything that was wrong with Celtic’s performance at Hampden yesterday, Bhoy, they did the all-important bit right.
Rodgers took his trophy haul as Hoops boss into double figures with this penalties Hampden victory over Rangers.
Did his team play anywhere near as well as they can? No, they didn’t.
Do they care? Nope, not one jot.
Because when Daizen Maeda held his nerve to beat Jack Butland with the tenth kick of the shootout at the Rangers end – after Ridvan Yilmaz missed – the old trophy was on its way back to Parkhead.
After it was all over Philippe Clement gathered his squad together to tell them they were so, so close to retaining the cup.
But when push came to shove they didn’t do enough to get their hands back on it.
It was a cup final that took a while to get going.
But once it did, the drama and excitement was off the charts.
By Derek McGregor and Kenny MacDonald
CELTIC
KASPER SCHMEICHEL: Early stop from deflected Hagi shot. Held Balogun header. Pushed out Igamane shot for Bajrami tap-in. Beat away Cerny shot. Poor at Cerny cross for Danilo header. Shoot-out save turned it…7
ALISTAIR JOHNSTON: Recovered from a hip knock but troubled by Hagi. Also had Raskin over him like a rash during attacking forays. Solid second half. Replaced at 70 minutes and he was a miss…6
CAMERON CARTER-VICKERS: Unsure header from Tavernier long ball created Hagi chance. Magnificent defending to get a block on Bajrami when Gers were 4 on 2. Always a strong figure at back. Booked…7
AUSTON TRUSTY: Commanding presence, strong when he had to be in challenges and composed on ball, faultless use of it. Hefty collision with Balogun. Subbed half time, likely injured…5
GREG TAYLOR: Celts future up in air, didn’t do popularity with fans any good with shocking pass for Gers opener. Got away with another blunder. Levelled with 20-yard shot deflected of Raskin. Subbed…5
CALLUM MCGREGOR: Skipper unusually subdued first half but whole of Celtic midfield was stifled. Never question his competitiveness, got stuck in. Nerves of steel with shoot-out penalty. Equal with Billy McNeill on 23 trophies…7
PAULO BERNARDO: He’s ahead of Engles just now and that comes with a pressure to prove he’s better than £11 million man. Free-kick blocked. Reasonable game. Replaced after 70 minutes…6
REO HATATE: At times looked pedestrian, had to do more to move his Gers counterparts about. Big early chance saved by Butland. Improved second half and had close range effort parried. Shoot-out penalty…7
NICOLAS KUHN: Stunning pace to get in behind and leave marker for dead, tried to cut across Butland but keeper denied him. BIG chance. Skinned Jefte, shot saved. Clinical finish for Celtic’s third. Subbed…8
DAIZEN MAEDA: Found Tavernier lot more difficult but also surprisingly got little of the ball. Second half lively, brilliant opportunistic goal, control and finish. Faded towards extra time. But then emphatically struck shoot-out winner…8
KYOGO FURUHASHI: Scourge of Gers with eight goals but struggled. One effort easily saved. Lucky to remain on for second half. Point blank shot saved. His deflection past Schmeichel. Subbed…5
SUBS: Liam Scales (6) flashed header wide, booked and lucky not to concede penalty; Tony Ralston (5) replaced Johnston, wanting at Danilo header; Arne Engels (6) superb assist for Kuhn. Shoot-out penalty; Adam Idah (6) took over Furuhashi, shoot-out penalty; Alex Valle (5) and James Forrest (3) on in extra time to move level with Bobby Lennox on 25 trophies as most decorated Celt.
RANGERS
JACK BUTLAND: Crucial early save at feet of Kuhn then from Hatate’s rebound. Another big save from Hatate at 1-1 and helpless at the Celtic goals. Slotted shoot-out penalty. 7
JAMES TAVERNIER: Gers fans were fearful of their skipper against Maeda’s pace but he mostly coped well against the Japanese. Sent extra-time free-kick over then blazed great opening across goal. Booked. 7
LEON BALOGUN: Third final in a year for veteran and he made a key early tackle on Maeda then saw header saved by Schmeichel. Early booking contributed to him being subbed. 6
ROBIN PROPPER: Looked like being a long day when he was skinned for pace by Kuhn in opening 15 minutes but recovered to be solid. Nothing flashy but dealt with Celtic strikers capably. 7
JEFTE: Little impact. A first-half booking was practically his only contribution and he was hooked immediately after Maeda’s goal. It all looked a bit much for him. 5
NICO RASKIN: Has had better days but stuck at it. Deflected Taylor’s drive past Butland then his slack pass played Balogun into bother and let Maeda through to score. Booked. 6
MO DIOMANDE: Ivorian was disciplined and important to his side while Rangers were on top. After the break forced Schmeichel into a big save then forced ball in for equaliser. 7
VACLAV CERNY: Saw a drive charged down in first-half stoppage time then forced a save from Schmeichel as his side chased. Pinpoint cross for Danilo equaliser. 6
NEDIM BAJRAMI: Albanian pounced on Taylor’s poor pass to score Rangers’ first goal against Celtic in nearly four hours. Stayed close to McGregor in key shadowing role for his side. 6
IANIS HAGI: Forced an early save from Schmeichel in what was the Romanian’s first Rangers Final. But he found it hard to make an impression and passing was slack. Booked. 5
HAMZA IGAMANE: Recovered from early clash with Carter-Vickers but never quite imposed himself and didn’t look like continuing scoring run. Sent a second-half effort wildly off target. Booked. 5
Subs : Ridvan Yilmaz (Jefte 60,4) sold himself badly at Celtic’s third then saw shoot-out penalty saved; Dujon Stirling (Balogun 66,5) pace helped him handle situations, booked; Danilo (Bajrami 85,6) got ahead of Ralston to score bullet header 21 seconds after re-start; Cyriel Dessers (Igamane 100,4) instant booking; Connor Barron (Diomande 105,3) little impact; Kieran Dowell (Cerny 105,3) no impression.
Could there have been better quality?
Absolutely.
This was far from a classic for the football purists out there.
But it was 3-3 after 90 minutes with the two teams giving it absolutely everything to get their hands on the trophy.
The players virtually staggered their way through extra-time before the nerve-shredding spot-kick shootout.
Rangers were worth their lead at half-time.
The opening goal came from a mistake from Greg Taylor with Nedim Bajrami making the most of it.
But Clement got the courage and bravery he called for in the build-up.
Rodgers? He was far from impressed with what he got from his side in the first-half especially.
But you had to hand it to the way Rangers rushed their opponent into mistakes all over the pitch.
That’s how the opening goal came about.
Taylor was stepping infield and being the extra man in midfield and his passing up until that crucial moment was crisp and sharp.
But all it took was for one split-second of hesitation and he was robbed in an area of the pitch where he couldn’t afford to be robbed.
The ball was fired straight to Bajrami who played a pass forward to Hamza Igamane who drilled a low shot that was on target.
Kasper Schmeichel got down to it and he made the initial save. But Bajrami had continued his run and had an empty goal to tap the ball into.
He couldn’t miss and didn’t.
Celtic could have few complaints as they regrouped in the changing room at the break.
In there, Rodgers must have had some harsh words to say to his players who weren’t following his instructions.
All Clement could do at that stage was encourage more of the same.
Like the performance against Spurs in the Europa League last Thursday night, he couldn’t have asked for any more from his men.
Nico Raskin and Mohamed Diomande were outstanding again like they were in the European game.
Celtic had to make a change for the second-half with Liam Scales replacing injured Auston Trusty and the Ireland stopper wasn’t far away from scoring with a glancing header from a free-kick.
But in 51 minutes Rangers wasted a huge, huge chance to go 2-0 ahead.
They broke upfield when Taylor slipped in their half and had a man over and an incredible opportunity to double their lead.
But Bajrami and Igamane didn’t combine well enough and allowed Cameron Carter Vickers to race back and made a last gasp intervention. It was brilliant defending but bad attacking.
You wondered there and then if Rangers may live to regret it.
Because soon they were watching Celtic score twice inside four minutes to equalise and take the lead.
Their leveller had a huge slice of luck attached to it with Taylor’s shot from outside the box hitting Raskin on its way into the net.
Celtic’s second, though, was just brilliant from Daizen Maeda.
Raskin played an awkward pass back to Leon Balogun who was on a booking and unable to be as aggressive as he would have liked.
Maeda charged him down, won the ball and drilled a superb shot past Butland to turn the final in its head.
Rangers could have folded but showed real resilience to stay in the game and then make it 2-2.
This time, a clip off Kyogo helped the ball into the back of the net after Diomande held off Arne Engels to get a shot on target.
Suddenly the cup final was there to be won again.
In 86 minutes, it looked like Nicolas Kuhn had done it with his cool finish past Butland, but Rangers refused to let the game go quietly.
The defending and goalkeeping from Schmeichel and Tony Ralston could have been better at Danilo’s equaliser but the way the Brazilian’s movement and determination to get on the end of the cross was terrific.
His dad was in the main stand and went wild, running up and down the steps to celebrate his boy’s goal.
It meant extra-time where the two teams slugged it out before penalties.
James Tavernier, Ianis Hagi and Danilo all scored for Rangers with Adam Idah, Callum McGregor and Arne Engels netting for Celtic.
But after Yilmaz missed – Schmeichel saving low to his left- crucially it was advantage Celtic.
Incredibly, Jack Butland took Gers’ fifth spot-kick ahead of outfield players back on the halfway line before Maeda smashed past Butland to win the cup.
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