William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final
Celtic 2-0 Rangers
Sunday, 23 April 2017, kick-off 12 noon
Hampden Park
Celtic: Callum McGregor (11), Scott Sinclair (51)
Celtic have their eyes on the treble following a comfortable 2-0 victory over rivals Rangers to progress to their first final since 2013.
The last time they lifted the trophy Leigh Griffiths was in the Hibernian line-up against Celtic but on Saturday, 27 May he’ll be aiming to help Celtic win their third trophy in the one season for the first time since 2001.
Callum McGregor opened the scoring against Rangers with a slick finish before Scott Sinclair converted a penalty, won by Griffiths.
Afterwards Leigh Griffiths said: “The treble has been talked about for a long, long time now but that’s us just one game away now.
“It will be a difficult game against Aberdeen who showed their qualities yesterday but if we bring our A game no-one can live with us.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice in the match at Parkhead against Rangers but today the fans got right behind us from the start and Callum’s goal set the tone with a great finish and we took it from there.”
In a typically raucous atmosphere, both sides were fired up for the occasion with Celtic totally dominant throughout the first-half and deservedly took the lead on 11 minutes.
Moussa Dembele’s composed pass allowed Callum McGregor to slot home from the edge of the area with a crisp one-touch finish.
Dembele was then forced off with an injury after half an hour meaning Leigh Griffiths stepped onto the field of play and tested Foderingham with a free-kick as the first-half petered out.
At the break Celtic were in front by one goal but had controlled the game with Rangers failing to threaten the defence.
Within four minutes of the restart Celtic won a penalty when Tavernier brought down Leigh Griffiths and Scott Sinclair sent their supporters into raptures by hitting the corner of the net.
That goal seemed to give Celtic further momentum, allowing Griffiths and Boyata to both go close.
Rangers then edged their way back into it, with Miller looking threatening and he had a chance when the striker looped the ball over the head of Gordon but it ended up landing on the roof of the net.
Martyn Waghorn also had an opportunity with his head four minutes from time but he failed to hit the target.
Ultimately it was to be Celtic’s day and on the 89th minute Tom Rogic smacked the post with a curling effort from the edge of the area.
As the final whistle blew, the Celtic supporters erupted as they look forward to what could be a historic day for the club in May.
Stat Attack
Possession
Celtic: 66% Rangers: 34%
Shots on goal
Celtic: 15 Rangers: 8
Yellow cards
Celtic: 2 Rangers: 3
Fouls
Celtic: 11 Rangers: 12
Celtic | Gordon, Lustig, Boyata, Simunovic, Tierney, Brown (Captain), McGregor (Rogic, 74), Roberts (Forrest, 82), Armstrong, Sinclair, Dembele (Griffiths, 33)
Unused substitutes: Bailly, Gamboa, Sviatchenko, Eboue Kouassi
Rangers | Foderingham, Tavernier, Wilson, Bates, Beerman, Hyndman (Windass, 69), Holt, Halliday (McKay, 45), Garner (Dodoo, 45), Miller (Captain), Waghorn
Unused substitutes: Alnwick, Hill, Toral, Hodson
Man of the Match: Scott Brown
Attendance: 49,643