Celtic eventually saw off Rangers in the League Cup final after beating the Ibrox club 5-4 on penalties at Hampden.
Daizen Maeda’s winning penalty sealed Celtic’s 119th trophy of their history to leave Rangers heartbroken after their performance at the national stadium still left Philippe Clement’s side heading home empty-handed.
Despite watching his team take the lead and then battle back twice from behind, Clement and James Tavernier still had to watch Celtic stand on the winner’s podium as the Bhoys taste another Hampden triumph over Rangers.
Speaking post-match, Clement was clearly gutted as he rambled on about a penalty claim, VAR and the gap between Celtic and Rangers.
Philippe Clement reacts to Celtic’s ‘cruel’ win over Rangers
Clement told Premier Sports, “It’s cruel today. We were the team who got the most chances in the game.
“There’s also a penalty situation on Czerny. So it’s a weird one that the referee, at least, is not been asked to go to watch the monitor because we get a free kick at the edge of the box but his foot is on the line so it’s a clear penalty.
“At least it’s a discussion at least for the referee to take.”
On speaking to the referee, Clement said, “We had a short talk about that and they didn’t get any contact from the VAR to watch the image. So that’s something that people from outside need to discuss and take a look at, I think, why there was no communication about that situation.
“But I’m going to be focused on my team and what we need to do for the next weeks, the next months, to become better and better again.”
Philippe Clement’s bizarre comments on the gap between Celtic and Rangers
Not satisfied about harping on about a penalty, the Rangers boss then started talking about the gap between his team and Celtic.
“We know financially there’s a big gap,” continued Clement, “But the players show today that the gap on the field is not as big as people are talking about the last couple of months.
“That this team is growing and getting better. And then that’s what we’re going to do we’re going to focus on that.”
Celtic’s trophy count, the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership and the financial gulf would suggest that Clement is talking more nonsense after being beaten by Celtic in another important domestic fixture.
The Rangers boss is now seven games without a win against Celtic as the pressure piles on the Belgian. As for Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic boss was delighted as he watched his team pick up more Hampden silverware.
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