Match report: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell
Scott Brown hoists the world’s oldest national trophy, then passes it back down the line to his team-mates who take turns lifting it after receiving their medals.
One man who won’t be getting a medal, despite deserving one for the speed with which he filed his on-the-whistle match report, is Ewan Murray. He was at Hampden Park for the Guardian.
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Motherwell’s players collect their losers medals. They look understandably disconsolate, but there’s no shame whatsoever in being outclassed by a Celtic team that’s co much wealthier than their outfit. They’ll probably think they could have offered more and that’s what will rankle.
It was easy for Celtic in the end: Motherwell just didn’t turn up and despite the Celtic’s platitudes, didn’t give a very good account of themselves. Callum McGregor scored a wonderful goal on the half-volley in the 11th minute and from that point on there was only going to be one winner. Olivier Ntcham rounded off a successful first season for Celtic with a comparatively scruffy goal on 25 minutes and Celtic continued to dominate. They took their foot off the gas in the second half and Motherwell had chances to equalise. Carl Bigirimana had the best of them, rattling the woodwork with a free-kick that came so close to frightening the life out of Celtic with 10 minutes to go.
Scott Brown speaks
“It’s exceptional,” says the Celtic captain in an interview with Sky Sports. “These fans deserve it more than anyone. The lads have worked so hard in the last two seasons and again, Motherwell things difficult for us. It’s been phenomenal.”
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Full-time: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over! A comfortable win for Celtic wins them the Scottish Cup and secures an unprecedented double treble.
90+3 min: Celtic play keep-ball in the corner to pass the final minute of added time.
90+1 min: Moussa Dembele’s latest attempt to get on the scoresheet is foiled by Cedric Kipre, who gets in an important challenge as the Celtic man tried to cut inside on his left foot and shoot.
90 min: Scott Brown picks out Scott Sinclair running into space on the left flank with a wonderful long diagonal pass, but the substitute runs into traffic as he attempts to create room for a shot.
89 min: Celtic substitution: Scott Sinclair on for James Forrest, who’s had an excellent game.
87 min: Richard Tait sends a cross into the penalty area, where Chris Cadden tries to steer a header in at the far post. His glancing effort goes wide and wouldn’t have counted if it had gone in, as he was offside.
85 min: Carl Bigirimana curls the ball into the Celtic penalty area, but their opponents clear. After their outstanding play of the first half, the league champions have been quite indolent since the break. A late Motherwell goal would give them plenty to think about.
83 min: incidentally, the linesman who provided the unintentional comic relief by falling over his own feet earlier is Douglas Ross, the Conservative MP for Moray.
82 min: Inside the final 10 minutes and Celtic continue to trail by two goals. They win a corner, which Elliott Frear sends into the penalty area. Tom Aldred wins the header, but it’s easy for Craig Gordon.
80 min: From just inside the D on the edge of the Celtic penalty area, Gael Bigirimana steps up to take the free-kick and he goes so, so close. He rattles the cross-bar with his effort, which had Craig Gordon well beaten.
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79 min: Motherwell win a free-kick in a great position on the edge of the Celtic penalty area after Dedryck Boyata tugs the shirt of Chris Cadden, who was bearing down on goal. Boyata avoids a red, as Kieran Tierney was on hand to cover.
78 min: James Forrest whips the ball across the edge of the six-yard box, trying to pick out Moussa Dembele, but Tom Aldred does a good job in defence for Motherwell. Dembele really deserves a goal here - he’s been outstanding.
77 min: Celtic win a corner from which nothing comes, followed by some comic relief from one of the referee’s assistants, who trips over his own feet while trying to get out of the way of the ball as it comes his way.
75 min: Another Celtic substitution: Kristoffer Ajer off with some sort of niggle, Jozo Simunovic on.
73 min: Celtic substitution: Tom Rogic off, Stuart Armstrong on.
70 min: Dembele misses two great chances in quick succession. He gets on the end of a Callum McGregor cross from the right and sends a bullet-header towards the top corner. Somehow, brilliantly ... Trevor Carson saves, getting one hand to the ball and keeping it out. The Motherwell goalkeeper then gets down to save the follow up, also from Dembele, with his feet.
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67 min: Half-chances for both sides, which are missed by Dembele and Bigirimana. Dembele really should have done better, shooting wide from an excellent position and the Motherwell goal apparently at his mercy.
64 min: Moussa Dembele is terrorising the Motherwell defence this afternoon. Spotting him out of the corner of his eye, Cedric Kipre panics and launches a bouncing ball into the stands rather than control it and pass back to his goalkeeper.
64 min: Motherwell get a rare shot on goal, but Chris Cadden fires straight at Craig Gordon.
62 min: Another booking for Motherwell, as Allan Campbell has his name taken for a late challenge on Scott Brown.
Soccer Football - Scottish Cup Final - Celtic vs Motherwell - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Britain - May 19, 2018 Motherwell’s Allan Campbell clashes with Celtic’s Tom Rogic. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters
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59 min: Ryan Bowman is penalised for a nasty studs-up challenge on Mikael Lustig, who wins a free-kick deep inside his own half. The ball is thumped long to Moussa Dembele, who clearly has his jersey pulled by Tom Aldred as he wins, but only half-controls, the ball in the Motherwell penalty area. Celtic’s players and fans appeal for a spot-kick, but don’t get one.
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56 min: Motherwell substitute: Carl McHugh off, Gael Bigirimana on. The skipper is replaced and Ryan Bowman takes the armband.
54 min: A lightning fast Celtic counter-attack, again involving Kieran Tierney, ends with James Forrest miscuing horribly and screwing a decent chance horribly wide from the edge of the area.
52 min: Another cross from Tierney results in a Celtic corner. Olivier Ntcham’s delivery is atrocious.
51 min: A constant threat on the left, Kieran Tierney whips a low cross into the penalty area, trying to tee up Moussa Dembele for a tap-in. Trevor Carson is quick off his line to foil the striker.
50 min: Tom Rogic drives forward from midfield with the ball at his feet and tries a shot, which takes a deflection away from goal.
49 min: Allan Campbell gets a sight of goal and tries his luck from distance. His long range effort is on target, but Craig Gordon saves comfortably.
47 min: Chance! Curtis Main brings a good save out of Craig Gordon after getting on the end of a pull-back from the by-line. The Celtic goalkeeper gets a strong hand to the ball and puts it out for a corner, from which nothing comes. The chance came on the back of good work down the right wing from Chris Cadden, who’s been moved further forward.
Second half: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell
46 min: Motherwell get the ball rolling for the second half, needing to score next to have any chance of clawing their way back into this final. They started reasonably well, but were completely outclassed from the 10th minute on. Celtic get forward immediately and Kieran Tierney sends a cross towards Mooussa Dembele. Trevor Carson claims well.
Half-time at Hampden Park: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell
It’s been men against boys for most of the first half and Celtic look home and hosed already. Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham got the goals against a Motherwell side that appear to have no answers whatsoever for the many difficult questions they are being posed. They’ve had a couple of half-chances without ever really threatening and seem to be resorting to bully-boy tactics in the absence of any better ideas on how to compete.
Celtic won’t mind that one bit and if Motherwell get a man sent off, as seems likely, any faint hope they have of getting back in this contest will disappear down the tunnel with him.
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45 min: Crikey! There’s another late tackle on Tierney, this time from Allan Campbell, who escapes a booking.
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44 min: Liam Grimshaw gets booked for a late barge on Kieran Tierney. Their players seem to think they can intimidate the (vastly experienced) youngster, but he’s making mugs of them at the moment.
42 min: Another counter-attack from Celtic, with Dembele showing great strength to muscle his way up the centre of the pitch with Callum McGregor up in support. Dembele tries to play him through on goal, but puts too much welly on his pass and a good opportunity goes begging. Motherwell looked very stretched at the back there.
40 min: Motherwell win a free-kick about a third of the way inside the Celtic half. The ball’s played to Cadden at the edge of the penalty area, he tries to pick out Curtis Main, but the ball runs wide.
39 min: Motherwell win a corner. The ball’s lofted in the Celtic penalty area, where Dedryck Boyata heads clear.
38 min: Assuming they go on to win this final, Celtic will have an open-top bus parade back to Celtic Park afterwards. Then, after a night of presumably alcohol-drenched celebrations, they and their fans have to rouse themselves for Scott Brown’s testimonial against a - sound the cliche klaxon - Republic of Ireland XI tomorrow.
37 min: Just before that booking, Tom Rogic missed a decent chance to further increase Celtic’s lead, but stabbed the ball straight at Carson when it fell to him near the penalty spot.
36 min: Richard Tait gets the first yellow card of the game for leaving one in on Kieran Tierney as the Celtic defender attempted a clearance. It’s been a noticable tactic from Motherwell’s players and quite a few have got spoken to about it by the referee, who has obviously run out of patience.
34 min: Olivier Ntcham did a series of acrobatic somersaults by way of celebration for his goal and looking at replay now, it’s funny to see how his team-mates were very careful to wait until he was finished before going to congratulate him.
31 min: Celtic continue to dominate and just a third of the way in, it’s difficult to see any back for Motherwell. They’re being completely outclassed, much like our Scottish football correspondent Ewan Murray predicted.
29 min: A tip of the hat to Moussa Dembele, whose hold-up play in the lead up to Celtic’s second was outstanding. He laid it off to Ntcham, who didn’t catch the ball particularly well, but hit it accurately enough to go in the bottom corner. Motherwell defender Cedric Kipre turned his back to the ball and it clipped his heel on the way in, leaving goalkeeper Trevor Carson with no chance.
28 min: Curtis Main tries his luck from distance for Motherwell, but fires over the bar.
27 min: Chris Cadden muscles his way down the right flank past a couple of Celtic defenders and gets in a good position to pull the ball back from the byline. There’s nobody up in support to convert.
GOAL! Celtic 2-0 Motherwell (Ntcham 25)
Olivier Ntcham doubles Celtic’s lead with a low drive from distance into the bottom left-hand corner that took a slight deflection off Cedric Kipre, who turned his back to the shot.
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24 min: Tom Rogic goes down injured, holding his head, after running into Carl McHugh, who stood his ground. It’s been quite a physical, bruising encounter.
22 min: Celtic have been in complete control since taking the lead. Motherwell goalkeeper Trevor Carson is forced to dash off his line to pluck a James Forrest cross from the sky.
19 min: There’s a minute’s applause from both sets of fans for Motherwell supporter Stephen Mearns, 19, who was found dead in his mum’s house last week. Stephen was supposed to attend today’s final with his dad, so it’s nice to see him being remembered.
19 min: Celtic clear the ball long to Moussa Dembele and Tom Rogic, who has been unplayable so far, gallops forward in support. Dembele tees him up for a shot, which is blocked.
17 min: Motherwell win a throw-in deep in Celtic territory and work the ball into the Celtic penalty area. It’s crossed towards Liam Grimshaw, but Celtic clear.
16 min: Motherwell look a little shell-shocked after going behind and almost conceded a second. Moussa Dembele fired over the bar after getting on the end of a Kieran Tierney cut-back into the area.
12 min: Celtic lead after 11 minutes with a sublime strike from Callum McGregor. The ball fell to them at the edge of the penalty area from a Charles Dunne clearance. He took a touch to control it with his left and could scarcely have struck a more perfectly half-volley with his weaker right foot. The ball screamed past Trevor Carson, off the post and into the top corner.
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GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Motherwell (McGregor 11)
Callum McGregor gives Celtic the lead with a sweet strike in off the post from the edge of the box.
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9 min: Celtic attack down the right again and James Forrest beats his man for pace and sets himself to send in a cross. Charles Dunne saves the day for Motherwell with a brilliant covering tackle.
6 min: With his back to goal, Tom Rogic receives a pass on the edge of the area, turns and unleashes a low drive. The ball fizzes a couple of feet wide of the upright. Moments previously, Ryan Bowman missed a half-chance for Motherwell at the other end. It’s been frantic so far - Celtic are bossing proceedings, but Motherwell are doing OK.
5 min: Celtic break on the counter in this end-to-end spectacle and drive forward. On the overlap on the right flank, Brown curls a cross in towards Mossa Dembele, but the ball is cleared by Tom Aldred.
4 min: It’s been a fairly frantic opening four minutes with the game yet to settle down and find its rhythm. Scott Brown loses the ball in midfield and Allan Campbell knocks it forward to Curtis Main, but there’s too much pace on the pass.
3 min: Motherwell enjoy their first spell of possession, attacking down the right flank after Liam Grimshaw wins the ball in midfield. Curtis Main and Chris Cadden combine and get the ball across, but nobody is on hand to get off a shot.
2 min: Now Celtic attack down the right, with Tom Rogic on the ball. His attempted cross is blocked and Motherwell earn some respite from this early Celtic onslaught.
Celtic v Motherwell is rumbling ...
1 min: Have got through the last of the pre-match formalities, play is under way in the 2018 Scottish Cup final. Celtic get the ball rolling and immediately get forward down the left flank. With Motherwell looking exposed, Callum McGregor makes a pig’s ear of his cross into the penalty area.
Not long now ...
Hampden Park is a vision of claret and yellow, green and white as a huge crowd awaits the arrival of the teams out on the pitch. Scott Brown is in the tunnel with his “game face” on, as Celtic wait for Motherwell to join them. Managers Brendan Rodgers and Stephen Robinson lead the teams out on Michael Buffer’s cue. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he exhorts. “Let’s get ready to ruummmmmmmmmmmble ...”
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An email from Simon McMahon: “The last time the ‘double treble’ was on in Scotland was in 1994 when an unfancied Dundee United side faced all conquering Rangers in the Scottish Cup final,” he writes. “United had lost four Scottish Cup finals in the past 10 years, whilst Rangers had the likes of Gary Stevens, Richard Gough, Stuart McCall, Gordon Durie, Mark Hateley, Ally McCoist and Duncan Ferguson in their team. And we all know what happened then.
“For those that don’t, United won 1-0 to claim their first ever Scottish Cup, the season after Jim McLean, manager for all six of United’s previous Scottish Cup finals, had been replaced by Ivan Golac. Though if Motherwell are looking for omens, they shouldn’t look too closely, as United were relegated the following season.”
Lots of changes for Motherwell
Stephen Robinson has, as expected, made sweeping changes from the Motherwell second string side that beat Hamilton 3-0 in their final game of the league season. Richard Tait and Liam Grimshaw are the only survivors from that match.
One change for Celtic
Craig Gordon returns from a knee injury to take his place in goal for Celtic, otherwise it’s as you were from the side that lost to Aberdeen in their final game of the season.
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Celtic v Motherwell line-ups
Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Boyata, Ajer, Tierney, Brown, Rogic, Ntcham, McGregor, Forrest, Dembele.
Subs: Bain, Simunovic, Armstrong, Sinclair, Griffiths, Kouassi
Motherwell: Carson, Tait, Grimshaw, Cadden, McHugh, Main, Bowman, Dunne, Aldred, Kipre, Campbell
Subs: Griffiths, Bigirimana, Hartley, Frear, Petravicius, Turnbull, Maguire
Early team news ...
Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon has been declared fit after missing his sides last three matches with a knee complaint. Defender Jack Hendry is cup-tied for the holders, having played for Dundee in his final game before signing for Celtic in January. Nir Bitton, Odsonne Edouard and Jonny Hayes miss out through injury.
Motherwell have fitness concerns over defender Peter Hartley, who is only just back in training after recovering from a foot injury sustained in December. Their midfielder Andy Rose has a calf strain, but may feature, while James Scott may play through the pain of a broken toe. On loan from Celtic, Nadir Ciftci can’t face his parent club, while George Newell, Craig Tanner and Ellis Plummer also miss out through injury.
The Guardian’s Scottish football correspodent tweets ...
There really is no case at all for Motherwell to win this cup other than Celtic having an absolute shocker. There's too much of a gulf between the teams. 1/7 to lift the trophy rather says it all.
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) May 19, 2018
Let's get ready to ruuuummmmmbbbbbbbbble ....
In something of a break from tradition for this venerable competition, the Scottish Cup sponsors have drafted in boxing’s most famous ring announcer, Michael Buffer, to introduce the teams and whip the crowd into a baying frenzy ahead of today’s game. Speaking to the Daily Record, the be-tuxedoed LA-based 73-year-old spoke of the origins of his famous catchphrase.
“When I was starting out the announcers would name everyone from the boxing board at ringside and by the time they got to the fighters they were almost an afterthought,” he said. “I wanted to let people know the formalities were done and it was time for what they’d paid to come and see. I tried a few other expressions first – things like ‘man your battle stations’ and ‘fasten your seatbelts’ – but nothing. I remembered something Muhammad Ali used to say at weigh-ins: ‘I’m ready to rumble’.” So now we know.
Brendan Rodgers speaks ...
Talking about his team’s bid for back to back domestic trebles, the Celtic manager said: “It’s a brilliant chance for us. I never say to the players ‘you’ve got to take this chance because it will be the only chance in your life’ because part of me thinks ‘do you not think you can do it again?’. So I never really go down that route with players, but there’s no doubt there’s an opportunity to write another chapter in the great history of the club, there’s no doubt about that.”
Stephen Robinson speaks ...
Having drawn with Celtic twice at Fir Park in the league this season, Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson has grounds for optimism and has said there’s little point in his team of underdogs travelling to Hampden unless they feel they can win. “We certainly are not turning up just to make up the numbers,” he said earlier this week. “The belief is not ill-founded, really. Constantly we search through teams that have caused them problems and a lot of the footage was us. There is nothing to lose for us. We are going to give absolutely everything. I’m sure the Celtic players will focus on a one-off game.”
Scottish Cup final: Celtic v Motherwell
Welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of the Scottish Cup final, in which Motherwell will be hoping to avenge their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Celtic in December’s League Cup equivalent and win their first trophy since 1991. Celtic, by contrast, have already added this season’s title to their League Cup success and are hoping to seal an unprecedented Scottish consecutive domestic treble with victory today. Hampden Park is the venue for today’s decider and kick-off is at 3pm. Stay tuned for team news and build-up.
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