It Was An Outstanding Display From Start To Finish

A 30-YARD wonder goal from James Forrest, a cool penalty from Odsonne Edouard, and a typically-calculated finish from Tom Rogic saw Celtic sweep aside Aberdeen 3-0 at Hampden on Sunday to book their place in next month’s Scottish Cup final.

- Joe Donnelly

It was a performance and a result indicative of a team bearing down on a third consecutive domestic clean sweep, one that’s now targeting 27 domestic cup tie wins in a row and three consecutive Scottish Cup triumphs for the first time in the club’s 132-year history.

With this year’s League Cup already secured, an 11-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership with just five games remaining, and now just one game left of the Scottish Cup campaign, Neil Lennon’s men are within touching distance of turning their Treble Treble dream into an historic and unprecedented reality.

They took a step closer on Sunday as they safely negotiated a physical semi-final encounter from start to finish, with Aberdeen lacking discipline at times and finishing the game with nine players on the pitch and their manager and assistant in the stands.

The reckless aerial challenge that prompted Dominic Ball’s first-half dismissal rendered Ryan Christie unconscious, and later requiring hospital treatment, while Tom Rogic was lucky to emerge unscathed from Lewis Ferguson’s two-footed tackle in the second-half.

Conversely, in the face of some provocation, the Celtic manager hailed the discipline and professionalism of his players throughout the match, and had nothing but praise for the manner in which they scored.

“It was an outstanding display from start to finish, I thought we started the game really well and it’s difficult to break Aberdeen down at times,” said Neil Lennon after the game. “We started on the front foot and Jozo set the tone with a great run, a great shot, and then almost scoring from a corner.