Celtic fans would have woken up on Monday morning with a beaming smile on their face.
It wasn’t easy and there were many heart-stopping moments, but Celtic’s League Cup final win over Rangers at Hampden was dramatic beyond belief.
Rangers opened the scoring after a Greg Taylor error and the first-half performance was nowhere near the levels that Celtic fans have been used to this season.
But it changed on its head in a goal-frenzy and all-action second 45 minutes, with the Bhoys leading by the hour mark, before it was Rangers’ turn to hit back.
Minutes from normal time, it felt like Nicolas Kuhn had won the game, but the scriptwriters weren’t finished yet because moments later the scores were level again.
That led to extra-time, which didn’t have the drama of normal time, but the nerve-racking penalties saw Daizen Maeda net the winning spot-kick after Kasper Schmeichel stopped Rıdvan Yılmaz’s penalty.
Celtic’s trophy presentation was delayed after fans’ celebration
Given the nature of the game, you don’t blame the fans, coaching staff and players if there was an element of relief.
But, as you can understand, the supporters in the stands couldn’t contain themselves after the final whistle, including several of them jumping onto the running track.
As Emma Dodds explained on Premier Sports (15/12/24), that then delayed Celtic’s trophy celebration, as she joked about the supporters being ‘fans of Premier Sports’ because they started celebrating with the broadcaster’s advertising boards.
“Celtic collecting the trophy has been delayed because the Celtic fans have come out onto the track,” said Dodds.
“The fans have been told to go back to the stands. The trophy presentation can’t go ahead. They clearly are fans of Premier Sports because they are taking our boards home with them (pictures of fans lifting the Premier Sports board). That’s why there has been a little delay.
Kyogo Furuhashi teases Celtic fans after win over Rangers
Kyogo Furuhashi has an excellent goalscoring record against Rangers, but he wasn’t able to add to that during his 76 minutes on the pitch.
Celtic are blessed to have two outstanding strikers to pick from, with Adam Idah coming off the bench and doing his job in the shootout.
And, when the players were celebrating out on the pitch, Kyogo couldn’t help but tease supporters, as the cameras of Premier Sports picked up.
