By Thomas Durning
Jota sends Celtic to Scottish Cup final.
Celtic will play Inverness Caley Thistle in the Scottish Cup final after defeating Rangers in the semi-final. A Jota headed goal was enough for Celtic to defeat their fiercest rivals and this win means Celtic’s chance of a domestic treble has taken a very big boost.
Rangers made two changes to the side that lost to Aberdeen last time out with John Souttar and Fashion Sakala coming out of the team and they were replaced by Connor Goldson and Ryan Kent who were both back from injury.
Celtic also made two changes to the side that drew with Motherwell last time out with Tomoki Iwata and Sead Haksabanovic coming out of the team, and they were replaced by Reo Hatate and Jota who were also returning from injury.
After a delay to kick off due to smoke from the flares that were set off, the game finally got underway and in the 1st minute Rangers had a chance to take a very quick lead when Raskin from the edge of the box, attempted a shot but it deflected off a Celtic defender and just went wide of the post.
The first twenty minutes of the match was very end to end with both teams giving it a real go to try and get the first goal of the game. Celtic had more of the possession in the first period of the match and Rangers were doing well stifling Celtic’s attack and also trying to hit on the counterattack.
In the 27th minute, Celtic had there first real chance of the game after the ball was pulled back to full back Johnston on the edge of the box who then attempted a curling cross which was pushed away by McGregor, Jota won the ball back and from a tight angle, attempted a shot but he was denied by the keeper.
Celtic were keeping the ball very well and in the 42nd minute, they scored the first goal of the tie. After O’Riley fell to the ground after being blocked by Barisic, the ball was loose and Rangers completely switched off which allowed Maeda to collect it and after getting by Davies, he crossed the ball to Jota who was unmarked in the middle, and he was able to header the ball past McGregor.
This was to be the last real action of the half and Celtic would go into half time pleased that they were able to score despite not creating many chances whereas Rangers would be disappointed as the goal came from there team completely switching off to allow Celtic to get the advantage.
The second half got underway and just like the 1st half, Rangers started very brightly.
In the 50th minute, Rangers had a chance cleared off the line after they won a free kick which was taken by Cantwell who placed it into the far post. The ball was won by Sakala and after the ball hit keeper Hart, Morelos tried to knock the ball into the net, but Carter-Vickers was there and he cleared it off the line.
Despite Rangers starting the half well, Celtic had a chance to double their lead in the 57th minute after a brilliant pass from Hatate who managed to get the ball in behind the Rangers defence, Kyogo managed to run onto it and attempted a shot with not much power, but McGregor got down to it and tipped the ball wide of the post.
Three minutes later, Rangers had another chance to get back into the game after Raskin passed it to Arfield who from the edge of the box had space as the Celtic defenders backed off. He attempted a low shot which Hart managed to get down to and push it out for a corner.
Rangers were really starting to up the pressure and in the 65th minute, had their best chance of the game so far after they managed to break away with Sakala down the right-hand side. Sakala decided to pull it back for Tavernier who attempted a shot from the edge of the box which Hart got a fingertip to, but the ball rattled the inside of the post and on the rebound, Sakala had an open goal, but his attempt hit the side netting.
Rangers were really going for it in the second half with Celtic doing a lot of defending to try and keep their lead intact.
In the 71st minute, there was another chance for Rangers after a brilliant cross from the left by Barisic was met by Cantwell at the far side, but he headed his effort into the ground and the ball bounced over the bar.
The defending from Celtic was very strong and in the 78th minute, they again had another chance to double their lead after Tavernier didn’t realise Mooy was behind him, which meant Mooy managed to win the ball back and he pulled it back to Maeda in the middle of the box, but his first time shot deflected over.
Rangers were still on the front foot in this half and as the clock was winding down, in the 84th minute they missed another chance after Matondo drove to the byline and as he twisted away from Carter-Vickers, he cut back inside and squared the ball to Arfield on the edge of the box, but his first time shot just went over the bar.
The chances missed looked like it was playing with the mental side of Rangers and as the clock ran down, they seemed to run out of ideas which proved to be true as the referee blew the whistle to end the match.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic (Yilmaz 74’) Lundstram, Raskin (Matondo 74’) Cantwell, Tillman (Arfield 36’) Kent (Sakala 45’) Morelos (Hagi 83’)
Subs not used: McLaughlin, Souttar, Wright, Kamara
Celtic: Hart, Johnston (Ralston 54’) Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley (Mooy 65’) Hatate (Iwata 66’) Jota (Haksabanovic 66’) Maeda, Kyogo (Oh 84’)
Subs not used: Bain, Kobayashi, Vata, Turnbull
Referee: Don Robertson
Reporter: Thomas Durning
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