Celtic on course for a double treble

William Hill Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Celtic 4-0 Rangers
Sunday, 15 April 2018, kick-off 2.30pm
Hampden Park Glasgow

Celtic: (Tom Rogic 21), Callum McGregor (38), Moussa Dembele (52), Olivier Ntcham (78)

Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic could achieve an unprecedented double treble following a convincing 4-0 victory over a lacklustre Rangers side.

Celtic led 2-0 at the break, dominating throughout and that continued into the second period when Rangers were reduced to 10 men and the Hoops toyed with their rivals, before notching a further two.

They will now take on Motherwell on Saturday, 19 May.

How the match played out

In what was a red-hot atmosphere right from the first whistle, it was Celtic who were close to taking an early lead.

Six minutes on the clock and Moussa Dembele, who was given the nod up front ahead of Leigh Griffiths, smashed the post with an acrobatic effort.

Celtic were controlled the opening exchanges with Rangers barely venturing into Celtic’s half.

After 21 minutes Tom Rogic outmuscled Ross McCrorie in the box and he calmly slotted into the corner beyond Wes Fotheringham, sparking pandemonium within the Celtic support.

Celtic bossed the first half with Olivier Ntcham and Scott Brown in charge of the midfield. Ntcham was close to giving Celtic a second but his shot took a slight deflection on the way to goal and darted wide of the target.

Celtic marked their dominance with a 2-0 lead before half-time when a Tierney cross was poorly dealt with by Russell Martin and Callum McGregor coolly slotted it into the bottom corner.

Andy Halliday was substituted before half-time for Rangers in a move that spoke volumes for how they had performed in the first half.

At the break, Celtic led comfortably 2-0 and it was to get worse for Rangers when they were reduced to 10 men at the start of the second period, as well as conceding a third.

Ross McCrorie failed to pass the ball back to Foderingham under pressure from Moussa Dembele who he then fouled inside the box.

Bobby Madden immediately pulled out the red card and pointed to the spot where Dembele cutely chipped the ball into the net.

As the Celtic support rejoiced with a huddle, Rangers retaliated but were spurned by Craig Gordon during a short spell of pressure.

After the ball hit the crossbar on 54 minutes, Alfredo Morelos had the goal gaping but Gordon got down low to make the save.

Their efforts were to be in vain though and it was to get worse for Rangers when Jason Holt brought down fellow substitute Patrick Roberts in the box.

Olivier Ntcham then capped off a commanding performance by slotting the ball beyond Foderingham.

Man of the Match

Moussa Dembele led the line for Celtic in an impressive performance where he held the ball up well and won the first penalty. He then converted the spot-kick with the calmest of finishes to cap a performance which further enhances the Frenchmen’s growing reputation.

Match Stats

Possession: Celtic 53% Rangers 47%

Shots: Celtic 13 Rangers 4

Fouls committed: Celtic 4 Rangers 14

Corners: Celtic 3 Rangers 7

Highlights

Post-match thoughts

Line-ups

Celtic: Craig Gordon, Mikael Lustig, Dedryck Boyata, Kris Ajer, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown (Captain), Olivier Ntcham, James Forrest (Patrick Roberts, 72), Tom Rogic (Scott Sinclair, 59), Callum McGregor, Moussa Dembele (Leigh Griffiths,

Unused substitutes: Scott Bain, Jozo Simunovic, Eboue Kouassi, Odsonne Edouard

Rangers: Wes Foderingham, James Tavernier (Captain), Ross McCrorie, Russell Martin, Declan John, Graham Dorrans (Jason Holt, 71), Andy Halliday (Josh Windass, 40), Greg Docherty, Jamie Murphy, Alfredo Morelos, Daniel Candeias (Bruno Alves, 52)

Unused substitutes: Jak Alnwick, Kenny Miller, Jason Cummings, Lee Hodson

Offences

Celtic

Cautions: Mikael Lustig (30), Scott Brown (64)

Rangers

Cautions: James Tavernier (90), Greg Docherty (48), Graham Dorrans (64), Alfredo Morelos (64)

Red card: Ross McCrorie (51)

Match officials

Referee: Bobby Madden
Assistants: David McGeachie, Graeme Stewart
Additional Assistants: Don Robertson, Nick Walsh
Fourth Official: Steven McLean

Attendance

49,729