Brendan Rodgers would have been forgiven for sitting on the bench with his feet up and a cigar in his gub after Celtic’s first-half vs Aberdeen.
The Hoops dismantled the Dons and currently lead 3-0 thanks to goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo and Daizen Maeda.
The opener was a towering header from the returning American who thumped home from a corner to give his side the lead.
Kyogo’s was a terrific finish in off the crossbar after his countryman Maeda had done all the hard work and sold goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov a dummy before teeing up the striker to make it 2-0.
And the third was the pick of the bunch after sensational build-up play from the Scottish Premiership leaders.
Maeda would eventually find himself haring in on goal and he swept the ball into the top corner to silence the travelling Dandies support and set his side onto what should be a comfortable victory.
But whether Rodgers SHOULD have been satisfied with his players for their tremendous efforts in the first-45, the manager was surprisingly yellow carded for showing frustration.
Rodgers was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball angrily back onto the pitch
After a wayward moment from the Celts on the pitch, the ball would roll towards the Northern Irishman in his technical area.
And rather than handle it in his usual composed way, Rodgers instead chose to leather the ball back onto the pitch – and he hit the deck for his troubles.
The manager was given the obligatory sarcastic applause for his tumble but it wasn’t over there.
Referee Kevin Clancy opted to show a booking to the blushing boss who accepted the card without complaint.
Celtic TV commentary team were angry at ref Kevin Clancy’s decision to book the manager
Celtic TV commentators Gerry McCulloch and Peter Grant were none too happy with the whistler’s decision but it comes under the IFAB laws of the game.
According to section 12.3, dissent was shown by the manager for “throwing/kicking drinks bottles or other objects or action(s) which show(s) a clear lack of respect for the match official(s)”.
Rodgers’ frustration was clearly not aimed at anyone in particular – and he paid for it with his fall – but Clancy opted to follow the letter of the law with a yellow.
It came after the kick-off to the semi-final was delayed for “visibility issues”.
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