The sun shone on Celtic at Hampden Park as a Kyogo double saw them make it back to back League Cup successes. A goal either side of half-time was enough to see off their fierce rivals Rangers, despite Alfredo Morelos pulling one back for the Gers.
The sun shone on Celtic at Hampden Park as a Kyogo double saw the holders reclaim the Viaplay Cup. The Japanese striker, who scored two in last season’s League cup final, was the hero yet again as Michael Beale suffered his first defeat as Rangers manager, despite Alfredo Morelos pulling one back for the blue half of Glasgow.
The sides emerged to roars from both ends as the Rangers and Celtic faithful gave the stadium colour through tifos and flares, ahead of a minute's applause in respect of the passing of Hibernian chairman Ron Gordon.
A scrappy first-half saw little chances for both teams, with Rangers first half-chance coming when John Lundstram saw his driven effort blocked after 13 minutes. 20 minutes had passed when Celtic first tested Allan McGregor who was forced into a good save as Jota’s left-footed effort 20 yards out flew towards the bottom left corner.
Rangers had their best chance of the first-half just after the 30-minute mark when Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent linked up on the edge of the box, however James Tavernier’s low cross was deflected behind for a corner by Cameron Carter-Vickers, who stopped it from reaching its intended target, Malik Tillman.
The Hoops ended the half much the better side as they looked to go into half-time happy, and after a couple of close efforts, the holders had the ball in the net through the club’s top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi. Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy combined in midfield before Greg Taylor sent a low ball across Rangers’ box, after Maeda could not make a proper connection, Celtic’s number 8 was left with a tap-in to send their fans into euphoria.
The second-half started much quicker, with American Malik Tillman doing well 50 minutes in and driving at Celtic’s defence before he found Ryan Kent, who’s effort beat Joe Hart only to bounce off the post and a tame Fashion Sakala effort from the rebound could only find the side-netting.
John Lundstram was the first name in referee Nick Walsh’s book shortly after, when he fouled Aaron Mooy with a cynical stamp.
56 minutes had passed when Kyogo grabbed his and Celtic’s second and half of Hampden erupted yet again. This time, Postecoglou’s side capitalised from a loose Tavernier pass and McGregor and Mooy fired two quick passes together which found Reo Hatate slotting in the Japanese striker for his second tap-in of the day.
As any chance of a Rangers turnaround became slimmer, the tackles became slacker, and not long after Celtic’s second Glen Kamara found himself joining his midfield partner with a yellow card, after he fouled Hatate.
Hope was renewed for the Govan-based club 64 minutes in, when Alfredo Morelos turned home James Tavernier’s free-kick just off the left hand side of the box. This was the Colombians third goal against Rangers’ fiercest rivals and it came at a third stadium, after scoring at both Celtic Park and Ibrox.
Rangers manager Michael Beale gave January signings Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin their first taste of an Old-Firm derby as he attempted to claw back the game, whilst Hyung Gu Oh and Tomoki Iwata were given the same chance by Ange Postecoglou as Celtic looked to kill the game off.
A feisty final 20 minutes saw 8 further yellow cards, with Greg Taylor, Hyung Gu Oh, Liel Abada and Alistair Johnson booked for Celtic, whilst Ryan Kent, Borna Barisic, Antonio Colak and Todd Cantwell were booked for Rangers.
Substitute Sead Haksabanovic had two clear cut chances for the green and white side, forcing Allan McGregor into a good stop before sending an effort just past the post wide on, however this did not come of any importance as Celtic held on to win their 6th League Cup in the last 7 seasons.
Ange Postecoglou said he was “very pleased and obviously very proud” of his side as he spoke post-match.
The winning manager called it “a great day for the football club” and admitted he thought his side were fantastic.
“Everything we got in the last 18 months since I’ve been here, a bit longer now, we’ve earnt through hard work and real belief within the group. I take great pride in that.”
Michael Beale admitted that his side “didn’t come to the game until the second-half” as he told his players after the match: “Suck it up.”
The Rangers manager, who faced defeat for his first time since taking the hot seat in December, also said: “We still need to recruit, we need to work out one or two players' futures.”
“When you play a game and for a third of it, you’re second best, clearly second best, you give yourself a mountain to climb.”
Celtic now chase a treble with a potential fifteen games between them and two further trophies.
Meanwhile, Michael Beale will have to inspire his players as they face an uphill battle in the league, trailing their rivals by nine points with twelve games remaining.
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