Daizen is spot-on at Hampden as Celtic win League Cup

League Cup final
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Hampden Park, Glasgow

CELTIC… 3
(Taylor 56, Maeda 60, Kuhn 87)

RANGERS… 3
(Bajrami 41, Diomande 75, Danilo 88)

Celtic win 5-4 on penalties

Daizen Maeda proved to be the coolest player inside Hampden this afternoon as he slotted home the winning spot-kick in a penalty shoot-out to deliver the League Cup back to Paradise.

That moment followed a superb spot-kick save from Kasper Schmiechel to deny Ridvan Yalmaz in the shoot-out.

That drama came after 120 minutes of action in the National Stadium which saw the game eventually end 3-3.

In the early exchanges of what was a tense opening to the game, Kasper Schmeichel saved comfortably from an Ianis Hagi shot.

The Hoops were dominating possession and fashioned a great opportunity after 15 minutes.

A ball over the top found Nicolas Kuhn whose pace took away from the Rangers defence. He cut inside and Jack Butland pushed the ball away to the edge of the area where Reo Hatate fired in a shot which was blocked.

Just over a minute later, Kyogo fired in a first-time shot which was saved after he raced on to another ball over the top of the Rangers defence.

There was plenty of energy and endeavour all over the park, though chances were at a premium, and it looked as though it would be goal-less going into the break when Rangers grabbed the opening goal.

Hamza Igamane intercepted a Greg Taylor pass across the halfway line and surged forward. His low shot was well-saved by Schmeichel, but the ball rolled into the path of Nedim Bajrami, who knocked it into the net.

Celtic made one change at the break, with Liam Scales replacing Auston Trusty in the heart of the defence, but as the Hoops surged forward in search of an equaliser, it was the Irishman who came close on 50 minutes when he headed just from a Paulo Bernardo free-kick.

At the other end, Cameron Carter-Vickers produced a timely block to prevent a shot from close-range.

On 56 minutes, Celtic drew level and it came after sustained pressure since the start of the second half, which included a Kyogo chance at the near post which was well-saved.

From the resulting corner, the ball broke out to Greg Taylor on the edge of the area and his precise shot ended up in the back of the net with the help of a deflection.

Four minutes later, the Hoops took the lead and it was a superb piece of individual magic from Daizen Maeda.

He latched on to a moment of slackness in the Rangers defence, lifting the ball over Leon Balogan and then producing a wonderful left-foot finish to beat Butland.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Kasper Schmeichel produced another great save, this time to deny Vaclav Cerny, but on 75 minutes he was unable to prevent Mohamed Diomande firing home from close range.

With three minutes of the match remaining, it looked as though Celtic had grabbed a winner when Nicolas Kuhn fired home from 10 yards out after he was set up by Arne Engels.

But just 60 seconds later, it was 3-3 when Danilo headed home a Cerny cross from close range to put the game into extra-time.

It proved to be a tense 30 minutes at Hampden, with Celtic pushing forward in search of the winning goal while Rangers were content to soak up the pressure and hope to get to a penalty shoot-out.

The Ibrox side got their wish, but it was the green and white ribbons which were ultimately tied on the trophy.

Successful penalties from Adam Idah, Callum McGregor, Arne Engels and Reo Hatate, along with Kasper Schmeichel's penalty save set the stage for Daizen Maeda to step forward and fire home the winning penalty, giving Brendan Rodgers his 10th trophy as Celtic manager.