THERE was no football history made in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final at Hampden yesterday – but history did repeat itself.
Celtic were the overwhelming favourites to beat an Aberdeen side they had experienced few if any difficulties swatting aside this season and complete a world record ninth domestic treble.
The Parkhead club, winners of the Premier Sports Cup and William Hill Premiership this season, had not reckoned on Jimmy Thelin devising a masterplan which would deny them their dream, deal Brendan Rodgers his first ever defeat in Mount Florida and end an interminable trophy drought.
Receiving a rousing pre-match video message from their legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson will doubtless have boosted the Aberdeen players’ morale and increased their resolve.
However, Thelin, the Swedish coach who was appointed last year following a painstaking recruitment process, showed that he is every bit as savvy and steely as his revered predecessor.
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His charges embraced his new formation and revised tactics fully, came from behind to force extra time and then defeated Celtic in a penalty shootout - just as they had on the last occasion they had lifted the Scottish Cup way back in 1990.
Having seen his side lose their four previous meetings to their rivals and concede 17 goals in the process, Thelin knew that he had to do something different, something radical, something unexpected, to get a result.
He duly abandoned his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and switched to a three man defence. It was a bold, some would say foolhardy, change to make before a final. But it proved to be a masterstroke.
His team adopted a 3-4-3 set up when they had the ball and changed to a 5-3-2 when they were out of possession. Mats Knoester, Jack Milne and Alfie Dorrington formed the rearguard and Nicky Devlin and Alexander Jensen dropped back alongside them when required.
“We have strong belief that this system is a good way to give us a chance to win this cup final,” sad Thelin when he spoke to BBC Scotland during the build-up to kick-off. "We have to have a strong belief in what we do. You don't know how many times you're going to be in a final, so we have to try and catch this moment.”
Sure enough, the new-look Aberdeen side did exactly what he had hoped it would. Celtic dominated the ball and applied consistent pressure in the final third. But they proved unable to find a way through the wall of red jerseys in front of them and were limited to half-chances.
Graeme Shinnie and his team mates enjoyed their first a touch of the ball in the opposition penalty box in the 45th minute. But by then they had fallen behind after suffering a stroke of bad luck at an Arne Engels corner. Dorrington knew little about the Cameron Carter-Vickers corner which glanced off his back and went in off the inside of the right post.
It was a sore one for the Pittodrie club’s players to take. Still, if you invite a team on to you so often and offer next to nothing going forward then it is perhaps an inevitable outcome.
The setback seemed to rile the skipper no end. Shinnie became embroiled in a shoving match with Carter-Vickers – a flyweight versus super heavyweight contest if ever there was one – after the latter had brought down Palaversa. Referee Don Robertson showed both men yellow cards once tempers had subsided.
Aberdeen struggled to lay a glove on Celtic when play restarted in the second half. Leighton Clarkson got a free-kick on target – the first shot of what had been a desperately disappointing encounter up until that point - after Palvera had been fouled by Maeda. However, the attempt lacked power and Schmeichel had little difficulty gathering it.
Pape Habib Gueye injected some much-needed energy in the middle of the pitch when he took over from Keskinen. His arrival on the park visibly lifted the 20,000 or so fans who were rooting for the underdogs. The introduction of Oday Dabbagh, the scorer of the winner in the semi-final, and Shay Morris on the pitch buoyed spirits further.
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Winger Morris got his side back on level terms. Schmeichel flapped at his cross and turned the ball into his own net with seven minutes of regulation time remaining on the clock. Father Peter, looking on from the main stand, will not have approved. The Dons diehards very much did.
Many of them left their seats, rank across the track, jumped over the advertising hoardings and celebrated wildly with their heroes. Extra police and stewards appeared from nowhere. But it still took several minutes for them to restore order and get everyone back in position so play could continue. Mitov ensured the game would carry on when he denied Daizen Maeda with his outstretched left leg at the death.
The excitement of the closing stages gave way to unbearable tension in the final half an hour. But there were huge cheers when Dante Polvara shelled just over and then Jeffrey Schlupp rattled the crossbar.
It was always destined to go to penalties. Shinnie, Polvara, Dabbagh, Palversa made no mistake. Mitov guessed which side first Callum McGregor and then Alistair Johnston would go. The rest is history.
It will be interesting to see what this performance and result will do for Aberdeen, who booked a place in the Europa League play-off round next term, and Thelin going forward. But none of them will ever be forgotten by those supporters who cheered them from the first kick of the ball to the last and partied long into the night.
