Martin O’Neill has responded after Celtic beat Rangers in a Scottish Cup penalty shoot-out to cause shameful scenes at Ibrox and refused to allow that to dilute the magnitude of the win.
After Celtic and Rangers played out a 0-0 draw, both teams had another 30 minutes to try and book their place into the Hampden semi-final.
However, despite Daizen Maeda having a Celtic goal chalked off for offside, and Emmanuel Fernandez’ handball goal correctly ruled illegal, there was no real goal drama inside Ibrox.
And after a 4-2 Celtic penalty shoot out win caused both sets of fans to invade the Ibrox pitch, O’Neill said his team were ‘absolutely magnificent’ despite the full-time scenes overshadowing the Ibrox win.
YOUR IMMEDIATE REACTION TO THAT SHOOTOUT WIN!
Martin O’Neill hails Celtic win vs Rangers saying stars were ‘out on their feet’
The Celtic boss was not allowing the end of game scenes paint the narrative of the win as O’Neill praised his Hoops heroes.
O’Neill told Premier Sports, “It looks as if there was a few tête-à-têtes anyway, as much as anything else. Yeah, that’s unfortunate, but hopefully it doesn’t dilute the performance, or in terms of character, all the things that we had.
“It was our fourth game in 10 days, and we were really, really out on our feet, but we defended magnificently, absolutely magnificently.
“Got blocks on, players throwing their bodies on the line, all the things that you can describe, I’ve got the utmost regard for the team.”
Celtic must focus now on chasing Hearts down
Celtic need to refocus to chase Hearts down in the battle for the Scottish Premiership crown now that the Scottish Cup semi final place has been booked.
With only five points separating the Parkhead club to the Edinburgh side, the league championship is, and always will be, Celtic’s main priority.
But with another Hampden visit looming for Celtic, Hoops fans have another big tie to look forward to as Rangers lick their wounds once more.
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