Aberdeen vs Celtic
Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup Final
Saturday 24th May 2025
Hampden Park, Glasgow 

Scorers

Aberdeen 1 (Kasper Schmeichel OG 83’)
Celtic 1 (Alfie Dorrington OG 39’)  

Aberdeen win 4-3 on penalties.

Team News

Jimmy Thelin made four changes to the side that started the Dons’ final league match of the season against Dundee United. Jack Milne, Nicky Devlin, Alfie Dorrington and Topi Keskinen all came into the starting lineup, replacing Kristers Tobers, Pape Habib Gueye, Jamie McGrath and Jeppe Okkels.

Brendan Rodgers named an unchanged starting eleven from the side that started their 1-1 draw versus St Mirren last weekend. James Forrest, fresh after scoring the equaliser last week, meaning he had scored in 16 consecutive league seasons for Celtic, retained his place on the bench.

As It Happened

Both sets of supporters were in fine voice in the lead up to kick off and in the early exchanges, with Hampden Park packed to the rafters to learn who would be crowned the winners of the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup.

It was a rather cagey opening 15 minutes, with both sides unable to muster up any shots on goal. The closest opportunity for either side came the way of Celtic on 13 minutes when Daizen Maeda was released in behind on the left, though he failed to pick out a teammate in the penalty area before Aberdeen eventually were able to clear the danger.

Greg Taylor came close to breaking the deadlock on 27 minutes when he was picked out just outside the penalty box by Nicolas Kuhn before unleashing a drive at goal that flew narrowly over the top of Dimitar Mitov’s crossbar.

After a rather dry opening half of the cup final, Celtic took the lead via a corner kick on 38 minutes. Arne Engels in-swinging ball in was met by the head of Cameron Carter-Vickers whose effort appeared to deflect off two Aberdeen defenders before trickling past Mitov into the bottom right-hand corner.

There was a late flash point in the first half following a challenge by Carter-Vickers on Ante Palaversa in which despite appearing to take the ball, referee Don Robertson adjudged the follow through from the Celtic defender to warrant a free kick. Carter-Vickers and Graeme Shinnie had an altercation in the aftermath, with both players being shown yellow cards for their troubles.

Celtic began the second half brightly and nearly doubled their lead in the 47th minute when Adam Idah released Maeda on the wing who found Nicolas Kuhn in the centre. The German managed to divert the ball goalwards though after some initial panic, Mitov was able to smother.

The Glasgow side came out with a point to prove in the second half and soon after created some good openings. First, Alistair Johnston’s ball across the face of goal was cleared for a corner by Mats Knoester before from the resultant set piece, Maeda glanced a header from a Kuhn cross just over the crossbar.

Ten minutes later and Brendan Rodgers’ side came within inches of adding a second through Arne Engels. Following an excellent one two with Kuhn, the Belgian let fly on his left foot striking the far post with Mitov beaten.

Despite Celtic’s dominance in possession, Aberdeen remained dangerous on the counterattack and very nearly forced an own goal from one of their former players on 68 minutes. Kevin Nisbet passed wide to Alexander Jensen on the right whose ball into the area was miskicked by Liam Scales in his attempts to clear, sending the ball just over the top of his own crossbar.

Aberdeen weathered the storm for most of the second half and were rewarded for their persistence on 82 minutes when they were handed a gift from Kasper Schmeichel. Substitute Shayden Morris’ cross from the right appeared to be routine for the Celtic stopper, though in an attempt to flick the ball away from danger, the Dane turned the ball into his own net sparking wild scenes in the Aberdeen end.

Fourth Official Colin Steven indicated there would be a minimum of seven additional minutes of time at the end of the ninety. In the 92nd minute, Daizen Maeda found himself through one on one with Mitov, and with only the keeper to beat his effort was saved excellently, denying Celtic a potential late winner.

Both teams pressed for a winner as stoppage time ticked away but neither side managed to create anything clear cut, meaning the 2025 Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup final would be heading for extra time.

The first chance of extra time fell Celtic’s way when a loose ball dropped to Luke McCowan on the edge of the box. McCowan fired towards goal on the volley though his effort was easily gathered by Mitov.

Callum McGregor was next to try his luck in the 100th minute as he looked to curl one on his left foot into the far corner, but his effort flew comfortably high and wide of Mitov’s goal.

Neither side created anything more in the way of chances in the first period of extra time, though it was Aberdeen who created the first chance of the second period when Dante Polvara fired a left foot volley just over the crossbar.

Moments later and Celtic hit the woodwork for the second time in the match. Extra time sub, Jeffrey Schlupp, found himself in space on the left before unleashing a driven shot from range that skelped off the crossbar, leaving Mitov rooted.

It was then the turn of another substitute, this time Johnny Kenny, to squander a big chance to put his side in the lead on 110 minutes. The Irishman was picked out by Johnston’s cross though he failed to get any purchase on the header as the ball trickled out for a goal kick. Moments later, Pape Habib Gueye shot straight at Schmeichel after being picked out brilliantly by Jensen.

That proved to be the last action of note in extra time with neither side able to break the stalemate as the tie headed for penalties.  

Celtic’s Callum McGregor won the coin toss, meaning the penalties would be taken in front of the Celtic fans. McGregor stepped up first, seeing his effort saved by Dimitar Mitov. Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie followed, keeping his composure to blast past Schmeichel to give the Dons the lead. Successful penalties from Kenny, Polvara, McCowan, Dabbagh, Maeda and Palaversa followed before Alistair Johnston had to score to keep the holders in the final. Mitov made a fantastic save to his right meaning the 2025 Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup would be heading north, for the first time since 1990.

Match Report by Mitchell Feggans

Teams

Aberdeen: Mitov, Devlin (MacKenzie 90’), Shinnie, Knoester, Nisbet (Dabbagh 79’), Clarkson (Polvara 79’), Palaversa, Milne (Tobers 93’), Dorrington (Morris 79’), Jensen, Keskinen (Habib Gueye 57’)

Unused Substitutes: Doohan, Boyd

Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston, Taylor, Scales, Idah (Yang 65’), Kuhn (Forrest 65’) (Kenny 96’), Carter-Vickers, Engels (McCowan 65’), Bernardo (Schlupp 99’), Maeda, McGregor

Unused Substitutes: Sinisalo, Trusty, Ralston