Refereeing calls upset McInnes but Celtic take first silverware

Aberdeen 0 : 1 Celtic

Celtic picked up the first silverware of the Scottish season with a narrow 1-0 win over Aberdeen in front of a packed 50,936 crowd in Glasgow’s Hampden Stadium. The victory helps Celtic remain on course for a clean sweep of domestic honours for the 3rd successive season in a row.

The match got off to a blistering start with Celtic’s Australian midfielder Tom Rogic hitting the post from a long range shot after just 6 minutes.

Despite the early scare, Aberdeen defied the pre-match expectations of a dominant Celtic victory and competed well throughout the match.

However they were dealt a big blow in the 42nd minute when creative midfielder Gary-Mackay Steven (GMS) was stretchered off after being knocked out following a serious head collision with Celtic’s Dedryck Boyata.

Former Celtic player GMS regained consciousness after a worrying few minutes of treatment on the pitch and was taken directly to hospital in an ambulance for head scans. The seriousness of the injury was highlighted when both sets of fans stood and clapped as he was taken off the field on a stretcher after a significant delay to the match.

Aberdeen appeared dazed by the injury and went behind shortly afterwards in the 5th of the six minutes added on for first half injury time. They switched off when former Aberdeen loan player Ryan Christie responded quickest to a rebound to give Celtic a 1-0 lead at half time.

Celtic had a great chance to extend their lead moments into the 2nd half when the referee wrongfully awarded them a penalty for what was a clear accidental hand ball and, more importantly, occurring outside the penalty area. Justice was done however when Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis produced a fantastic save, diving low to his right hand side to tip away Scott Sinclair’s well struck shot.

Aberdeen themselves felt they should have had a penalty earlier on when their was clear forceful shirt-pulling in the box. But referee Andrew Dallas somehow ignored the infringement.

It was a busy day for Dallas, with plenty of opportunities for him to have cause to reach for his pocket for his yellow card, dishing out seven in total for a series of over-physical challenges and incidents of dissent. Replays however showed that he didn’t have the best of performances, with numerous wrongful decisions being made.

Celtic held on for victory and their manager Brendan Rodgers was pleased with his team’s performance after the match, saying his team played with a “lot of heart and a lot of fight”. Rogers however wasn’t getting carried away with his 7th domestic trophy in a row.

“We’ll go back to the club just now and have a drink and I’ll then go home and have a cup of tea.”

.Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was clearly and understandably frustrated after the match saying he was “disappointed with some of the key decisions in the game” and explained he felt that “a couple of decisions were really harsh on my team”. But he was still upbeat enough to explain that he was “really proud of my team” and there were “fine margins” in the outcome of the match.

McInnes was also frustrated that Celtic’s match winner was Ryan Christie who was playing for his side last season and explained he was very close to being able to convert his loan move from Celtic into a permanent one in the summer. So close in fact that they had kept Christie’s 22 squad number free at the start of this season!

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was in the less than unusual position of feeling the officiating had benefited the Old Firm

McInnes looking disappointed after his 3rd Cup Final defeat to Celtic in three seasons

Celtic now turn their attention back to the league with a visit to Motherwell on Wednesday. They’ll be determined to regain top spot from Glasgow neighbours Rangers who took advantage of their extra league match earlier in the day by beating Hearts 2-1 in Edinburgh despite the setbacks of losing an early goal and being down to 10 men for the last 20 minutes.

Aberdeen meanwhile will take heart from a competitive performance today as well as gaining from the experience of yet another big match at the National Stadium to compete for trophies. Aberdeen have now played seven of the last 10 cup semis and finals at Hampden in the last three seasons. This fact was highlighted by the Aberdeen fans before this afternoon’s final by a banner which read “It is our end now”, mocking the traditional Rangers and Celtic “home sections” at the National Stadium, such is their dominance in Scottish football history.

Aberdeen have the chance to bounce back quickly from today’s disappointment as they remain in Glasgow to play table-topping Rangers on Wednesday night.