Celtic will face Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup final after beating St Mirren at Barclays Hampden.
Goals from Daizen Maeda and Anthony Ralston had the Hoops two goals to the good at half time, even if there were some scary moments as Viljami Sinisalo almost gave the ball away on multiple occasions.
St Mirren pulled one back less than 10 minutes after the restart as the Hoops came out of the blocks looking lacklustre and Martin O’Neill’s side were made to pay as the Buddies equalised in stoppage time to take the tie to extra time.
In the end, the Buddies fell apart as Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench to score twice in a stellar display while Luke McCowan and Benjamin Nygren made sure of the result in a dominant extra-time display.
For now, here is how 67 Hail Hail have rated the performance of each player.
YOUR REACTION TO A CRAZY GAME 🤯
Celtic player ratings
Viljami Sinisalo – 3
Probably his most disappointing game in a Celtic shirt. Despite making an impressive save when the score was 1-0, he was nearly caught out numerous times by taking too long on the ball and inviting pressure from the St Mirren attack.
Anthony Ralston – 8
Gets a lot of criticism for the way he plays but he didn’t put a foot wrong today. Scored an excellent goal while reading the play really well and standing tall defensively.
Benjamin Arthur – 5
Struggled to cope with the physicality of the St Mirren attack and couldn’t do enough to get across the man and stop the equaliser.
Auston Trusty – 5
Was on his favoured left side of the back four due to Liam Scales’ suspension but hasn’t got the same relationship with Arthur.
Found it difficult to deal with Mikael Mandron all afternoon.
Kieran Tierney – 6
Got forward plenty of times but spent more time defending than he would have expected, especially when Tounekti was on the pitch.
Callum McGregor (C) – 5
A surprise to see him withdrawn, especially when the game was still hanging in the balance. He wasn’t overly effective but it remains to be seen as to why he was the chosen one subbed off.
Arne Engels – 5
Engels was chosen to start ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but never really got going. Fitness may be the issue but, apart from hitting the post in the first half, it was an uninspiring return to the starting XI.
Benjamin Nygren – 6
Got the ball in plenty of space a number of times only for his final ball to not be at the standard required. He’s not always the best player on the pitch, but you can see why O’Neill likes to keep him on as he scored his 20th goal of the season.
Hyunjun Yang – 6
Had some brief moments where he looked like causing trouble but ultimately ran out of steam as the game went on.
Sebastian Tounekti – 4
Bad day at the office for the Tunisian, who was given the chance to start after watching from the bench in recent weeks. The first touch was all over the place and he seemed to struggle to create any sort of understanding with Tierney.
Daizen Maeda – 7
It was vintage Maeda for the opening goal of the game as he closed down the goalkeeper and got his reward. He looked back to his best at times and never stopped pressing from the front.
Who gets your man of the match award for their semi-final display?
Tell us why you voted for them 👀
Substitutes
James Forrest – 7
Offered way more than Tounekti did when he was introduced in the second half and provided the cross for Iheanacho while wearing the captain’s armband. the Another cup final awaits for the legend.
Luke McCowan – 6
Brought a bit of stability to the midfield in a game where the Bhoys were struggling to keep hold of the ball. He also taught some of the strikers a thing or two about how to be composed in front of goal.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 5
With McGregor being substituted, experience was needed in the middle of the park to get Celtic over the line. He seems to perform better when he starts games.
Marcelo Saracchi – 6
You know what you’re getting with the full-back. He likes to get forward but he is also a calming presence at the back. A good decision to bring him on.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 8
Name a more iconic duo than Iheanacho and a big cup tie? Time and time throughout his career, the forward has come up trumps and decided to do it all on his own by scoring two very crucial goals.
Dane Murray – 5
Had very little to do when he came on but that will come as good news to Celtic’s players and fans.
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