Kyogo Furuhashi fired Celtic to Scottish League Cup final glory as the Japanese striker's double delivered a 2-1 win against Rangers at Hampden Park.
Ange Postecoglou's Hoops completed a successful trophy defence and remain firmly in the hunt for a domestic treble.
Top of the league by nine points from nearest challengers Rangers, this result for Celtic denied their Old Firm rivals a chance to turn the tables and scoop silverware.
Rangers were seeking their first trophy in this competition since 2010-11, but on a pitch that looked better suited to battle than football, it was the men in green and white hoops that had the better attacking ammunition.
Celtic took the lead in the 44th minute when Furuhashi turned in left-back Greg Taylor's cross from close range, on hand to convert after team-mate Daizen Maeda missed his kick at the near post.
Rangers' Ryan Kent shot against the left post early in the second half, with Fashion Sakala firing into the side netting on the rebound.
Furuhashi doubled Celtic's lead when he bundled in Reo Hatate's low ball from the left in the 56th minute, putting Michael Beale's unbeaten record as Rangers boss in severe peril.
Beale, who was appointed in late November, was given encouragement when Alfredo Morelos got one back in the 64th minute, jabbing in as Celtic failed to deal with James Tavernier's free-kick from the left.
Both sides spurned chances in a typically high-octane contest between the Glasgow giants, with Celtic's Sead Haksabanovic shooting wide after being put through in stoppage time.
His miss did not matter ultimately, the men from the east end of Glasgow getting the better of their fiercest rivals, showing they remain top dogs in Scotland's biggest city for now.
Antony ‘unlikely’ to feature in FA Cup final as Man Utd suffer further setback
Manchester United have been hit by a setback for Antony ahead of the FA Cup final, with Erik ten Hag saying it is “unlikely” the winger will be fit to face Manchester City.
The 23-year-old winger went down in agony last Thursday during the first half of the penultimate Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.
Antony left on a stretcher and Ten Hag feared a “serious” injury, only to allay concerns three days later by saying the “first assessment is not too bad” and that he had a “good opportunity” to face City.
But this week has not gone as well as expected and the Brazil international now looks set to miss the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final.
“Unlikely (he will be fit),” he said. “Dos Santos (Antony) still has a chance but it’s a really small chance.
“He didn’t make the progress, so he still has a chance but unlikely he is available.”
Lisandro Martinez, Marcel Sabitzer and Donny van de Beek have long since been ruled out of the final, while Anthony Martial’s injury-hit season will end on the sidelines.
The 27-year-old strained a hamstring towards the end of Sunday’s win against Fulham and will miss the Wembley showdown after scans showed a muscle tear.
“These questions so many times about the absence of players in the last couple of months,” Ten Hag said.
“Every time I say the same answer: it’s about the players who are available and many times we were successful.
“We have a good squad and from that good squad we make a good team.”
Absentee-hit United wrapped up third spot last weekend and are looking to complete the domestic cup double for the first time, having lifted the Carabao Cup in February.
View this post on InstagramTen Hag says Saturday will be a “good test” against Premier League champions City, who are looking to take another step towards the treble by winning at Wembley.
United fans are desperate for their side to extinguish those dreams as Pep Guardiola’s men look to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 treble heroes.
“We want to win, we want to win a cup,” Ten Hag said. “It’s not about stopping them. It is about that we win, that we win the cup. We have a great opportunity.
“That’s great that we deserved that opportunity to be in the cup final and then meet Man City. That’s a great opportunity.
“We fought so hard for it. I think we progressed that well that we are in that FA Cup final.”
City won this season’s first meeting 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium, with United coming back to win 2-1 at Old Trafford in January.
Ten Hag’s Red Devils finished 14 points behind the Premier League winners and a big summer lies ahead as they look to launch a sustained title challenge.
View this post on Instagram“I think they do a very good job,” the Dutchman said days after Ferguson named Guardiola as LMA Manager of the Year – a trophy that carries the United great’s name.
“They play very good football, so they deserve it.
“Of course I look at others because they are opponents and I evaluate it, but we look to ourselves.
“You have to see where you are as club. From thereon, you have to make progress and I think we did over the last season.
“We make very good progress, we are in a good direction and now we use the coming period as well.
“Now we get the opportunity in the summer to make new targets, new goals on the short term.
“But the longer term, yeah, that will stay the same. As I said last year, we want to restore Man United but we have a way to go.”
Ange Postecoglou speculation not causing Celtic to lose focus – Matt O’Riley
Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley insists it will not be difficult to remain focused on the Scottish Cup final amid growing speculation over the future of manager Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou has become the odds-on favourite to take over at Tottenham with one report claiming he will meet Spurs chairman Daniel Levy on Monday.
The Celtic manager batted away questions over his future on Thursday as he bids to avoid distractions ahead of Saturday’s Hampden clash with Inverness and O’Riley claims the players will not be sidetracked.
“It’s not hard, to be honest,” the 22-year-old said. “There is always so much noise in football. Even with players, with managers, all sorts.
“There is a lot of stuff in the media all the time but I personally don’t believe most of the things I see, just because I know how football works.
“I’m sure he is very happy where he is because we are doing very well.
“It’s just part of football. Media-wise, there is always something going on and I’m sure there will always be the odd surprise that gets thrown in, someone leaves that you don’t expect, someone joins that comes out of nowhere. You just have to be ready for whatever comes.”
Postecoglou has been linked with numerous Premier League jobs throughout the season and Celtic have shown the focus to stay on course for a treble.
“It comes from, first of all, the hierarchy, the manager and staff setting the foundation of what can we do today to improve and taking it day by day,” O’Riley said.
“If you think too much about the future or stuff that has happened before, that’s when problems start to occur because you are probably in your head a bit too much.
“As long as we are focused on the day-to-day basics of trying to improve one another then I don’t think it should be a problem.”
However, the former MK Dons midfielder understands why many Celtic fans are anxious about the future amid the growing speculation over Postecoglou.
“He has provided so much success to the club, and hopefully that continues, and naturally fans are attached to someone who brings so much success,” he said.
“The same goes for the players in the group right now, everyone had good seasons for the most part, so naturally there is going to be interest in players, but hopefully we can keep as many together and push on even more next season.”
Every trophy is special – Alastair Johnston sees no let-up at Celtic
Alistair Johnston discovered that every triumph was special at Celtic when seeing the joy on serial winner Callum McGregor’s face as the captain lifted the first two trophies of the season.
Johnston is one match away from completing a clean sweep of major honours in Scotland five months after joining Celtic from Montreal.
McGregor is going for his 20th winners’ medal on Saturday when Celtic face Inverness in the Scottish Cup final and Johnston expects it would mean just as much for his skipper to again meet the demands and expectations of fans.
The 24-year-old said: “I know the extraordinary has become ordinary a little bit at this club with how many trophies they have lifted over the past decade. But still, for guys like myself, this would be my third-ever trophy in my entire career.
“And I know Cal is probably on 40 or whatever it is but even for him, when you see how much excitement and joy it brings to him and guys like that – James Forrest, I mean he might be on 50 for all I know – you can really tell how much it means.
“When you see that from the older guys who have been there and done that, especially as a new guy, you are like ‘okay, yeah, this is really big’. I am really excited and I would love to be a part of it.
“When you see over the past decade, not only the trophies but the trebles that have been won, you almost take it for granted a little bit that ‘oh, Celtic won another one, it’s not that big of a deal’.
“But now, being here and truly understanding and seeing the work that goes on behind the scenes and just the amount of effort that each guy puts in, it really rings true to me. It’s like ‘wow, each one of these is special’.
“Just because some guys have won a lot of them, it doesn’t make that next one any less special.
“I am just really excited to be in a position where I could potentially be walking out of here after six months with a treble. That is everything and more I could have asked for, but when I came in those were the expectations, that was what was put on me, it’s trophies or nothing.
“I am just really happy we are delivering for our fans so far but it will be a big match this weekend, it won’t be easy.”
Johnston’s appetite has been further whetted by seeing clips of previous Hampden success, including the penalty shoot-out that won Celtic the Scottish Cup against Hearts in 2020 to clinch the quadruple treble.
The Canada international said: “It gave you that hunger as one of the new players: ‘I want to be part of that, I want to leave my mark on this club as well’.
“As you get closer to these finals, some of those clips come up and it really puts things in perspective. You can just see the joy it brings to the fans and players. That’s something you want to be part of as a footballer.”
At one stage Johnston feared he would not be part of it after suffering a leg injury in a tackle on Rangers full-back Borna Barisic in the semi-final, but he fought back to fitness to play in the final match of the league season against Aberdeen last weekend.
“When I made the tackle, I thought it could be an issue,” he said. “Just because when I stood up and realised I couldn’t put any real weight on it.
“But the scans were better than expected and I have done a lot with the medical team, they have been unbelievable. They have been in every day pretty much with me doing the long hours because I made it really clear I wanted to be back, not only for the cup final, but I wanted to be back to be in contention for selection for the Aberdeen match because I wanted to be out on that pitch.
“You could probably see the joy it brought me being out there, I was loving life. Even though I got a bit tight, it was just precautionary to get me off.
“Now all the focus is on the cup final. I feel good enough to be able to go. I don’t think anyone is perfect at this point of the season.
“They are long years, a lot of matches, a lot of minutes on everyone’s bodies. But it’s a cup final, an opportunity to lift a trophy, and you can get through some pretty serious pain for that.”
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