And breathe. That was all rather nerve-wracking, wasn’t it? You will have to go a long way to find a better final than that this season but Celtic are once again the jubilant winners, taking home the League Cup.
It was a frantic affair at Hampden that saw the game to and fro with both sides trailing and both sides holding the lead at some point or another.
It started disastrously for Celtic against their Old Firm rivals with Nadim Bajrami finding the back of the net but Greg Taylor and Daizen Maeda gave Brendan Rodgers’ side hope in the second half.
But, but…cueutter carnage in the final quarter of the game. Mohamed Diomande equalised with 15 minutes to go for Rangers before Hoops winger Nicolas Kuhn looked to have won it with three games. Just minutes later Danilo popped up to send the game to extra-time.
Nothing could separate the two teams at the end of 90 minutes and nothing could separate them at the end of extra time. What did separate them, however, was Ridvan Yilmaz missing from the spot.
A jubilant Celtic side won an epic final 5-4 on penalties and it certainly wasn’t all plain sailing, as left-back Taylor will certainly testify.
Greg Taylor's performance in numbers
What a roller-coaster of an afternoon this was for the left-back in a true villain-to-hero performance at Hampden.
With the emergence of Alex Valle this season, the Scot’s game time in a Hoops jersey has diminished somewhat and on his first-half display in the cup final, it was clear to see why he hasn’t played every single 90 minutes.
In the words of Martin Dowden on BBC Sport, it was a “mindless moment” from the defender that led to Rangers opening the scoring.
Taylor attempted a simple ball towards Cameron Carter-Vickers but Bajrami intercepted it and then raced towards goal before playing it towards Hamza Igamane. His effort was initially denied by Kasper Schmeichel but Bajrami was there on the follow-up to fire home an easy finish.
Fortunately for the Bhoys, the Scotland international atoned for his disastrous error in the second half by finding a goal himself.
Kuhn’s corner came out to the full-back on the edge of the area before he struck it home via quite a hefty deflection from Nicolas Raskin’s outstretched leg.
So, with that moment of fortune, it was certainly hard to argue that Taylor was the worst player in green and white on Sunday. Instead, that honour should probably go to midfielder Reo Hatate.
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Reo Hatate's performance against Rangers
The Japanese star on his day can be a truly wonderful player to watch, notably scoring nine goals and assisting 11 during the 2022/23 campaign.
Injury-plagued the 2023/24 season and in the current term, it feels like he’s still struggling to get up to speed when you consider his performance against Rangers on Sunday.
After Daizen Maeda put the Celts 2-1 in front in the second half, Neil Lennon exclaimed on commentary that big moments call for big players and while one Japanese sensation found some form at a pivotal moment, his fellow countryman in Hatate really failed to do a job in the centre of the park.
He was particularly guilty of ceding possession on an all too regular basis and was subsequently handed a 6/10 player rating by the Daily Record who noted that he ‘struggled to exert himself’ on the contest.
Auston Trusty was withdrawn at half-time, but in truth, Hatate should not have been coming back out for the second half either.
The 27-year-old set the tone for a shoddy performance with what he did after just five minutes on the clock. Cup final nerves? Perhaps. Either way, it wasn’t the class and quality we expect from the midfielder who was handed the ball by the aforementioned Taylor but he let it slip under his foot and straight out of play.
That typified his performance and indeed Celtic’s first half, really. They were a great deal better in the second 45 minutes but Hatate didn’t do much to really spur his team on and will find himself fortunate to start the next game with Arne Engels – who supplied Kuhn’s goal – waiting in the wings.
He did, at least, find the net from the penalty spot but the Hoops will count their lucky stars that Hatate’s overall performance didn’t come back to bite them this evening. They will leave as trophy winners, yet again.
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