CELTIC 3 RANGERS 3 (aet; Celtic win 5-4 on pens)
KASPER SCHMEICHEL plunged to his left to repel a penalty-kick from Ridvan Yilmaz and Daizen Maeda stroked home a perfectly-placed effort to propel Celtic to the Premier Sports League Cup at Hampden tonight.
The combination from the Danish keeper and the Japanese winger was enough to give the Hoops their 119th trophy in their history, a silverware haul that beats all others.
It was a tumultuous and topsy-turvy encounter before the silverware was bedecked yet again in green and white ribbons to set up the Hoops for another treble-winning campaign.
It ended 3-3 after extra-time before the Hoops won 5-4 in a nerve-shredding penalty-kick shoot-out.
Celtic came back from a goal down to go 2-1 ahead with strikes from Greg Taylor and Maeda and were then pulled back to 2-2.
Nicolas Kuhn replied when he rifled in a third in the 87th minute, but, incredibly, Rodgers’ men, who were never at their best in this confrontation, allowed their opponents to equalise inside two minutes to take the showpiece to extra-time.
The extra half-hour passed without a goal that took the game to a dramatic and nerve-racking penalty-kick decider.
HAMPDEN HEROES…Kasper Schmeichel and Daizen Maeda celebrate Celtic’s penalty-kick shoot-out success against Rangers.
The pressure was all on the Hoops as Rangers won the toss to take the spot-kicks in front of their own fans and they also elected to take the first kick.
James Tavernier netted the opener with an expertly-taken kick, but that was wiped out immediately by Adam Idah who tucked his effort in the corner.
Ianis Hagi then put the Ibrox side ahead before skipper Callum McGregor made no mistake with his attempt.
Next up, Danilo tucked his drive away with precision and then all eyes were on Arne Engels who showed his class with a confident finish.
Left-back Yilmaz was next in line and the Turkish defender elected to go for precision as he picked out a corner, but Schmeichel was alert and agile and got down to his left to push the ball away.
Advantage Celtic!
Reo Hatate made it 4-3 in favour of the champions before keeper Jack Butland elected to take the next kick for Clement’s side.
To be fair, the netminder made a superb job of his kick as he left his opposite number helpless.
Then it was all eyes on Maeda who strode forward and whipped a right-foot effort low into the keeper’s right-hand corner as Butland took off in the opposite direction.
The trophy was heading home after an encounter that see-sawed from the first minute to last.
UP FOR THE CUP…matchwinner Daizen Maeda is hailed by jubilant Kasper Schmeichel, Adam Idah and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
A strangely-subdued Celtic were bossed in a low-tempo approach during a disconcerting first-half as they performed in slow motion against opponents who had set up to play an aggressive game all over the pitch.
As expected, they snapped into challenges and let their opposite numbers know they were around and they meant business.
Celtic were sloppy in possession and their fairly dire performance in the open period was highlighted by a blunder from Greg Taylor to gift the opposition the interval lead.
The left-back was under no pressure in the 41st minute as he decided to play a suicidal pass across the pitch. It was seized upon by Nedim Bajrami who was quick to release Humza Igamane who had a clear look at Schmeichel.
With the Hoops rearguard in disarray, the Ibrox forward fired in a low drive to the keeper’s right, but the Dane dived full length to push the effort away.
Alas, it dropped straight in front of Bajrami who had the freedom of Hampden to knock the ball into the gaping net.
It was an alarming moment of lapse in concentration by Taylor and it left his team-mates with an uphill struggle.
NUMBER ONE…Greg Taylor fires in the equaliser.
NUMBER TWO…Daizen Maeda slips the ball behind Jack Butland.
NUMBER THREE…Nicolas Kuhn thumps the Hoops into a 3-2 lead.
It had been a fairly uninspired opening period by the champions, but they should still have taken the lead in the 14th minute when Kuhn passed up a glorious opportunity.
The German winger raced past Robin Propper onto a through ball and attempted to cut inside onto his favoured left foot, but Butland read his intentions and spread himself to push the ball away.
It was diverted straight to Hatate on the edge of the box, but he lost composure just when it mattered most and drove the ricochet into a swarm of bodies and it was cleared.
If the Japanese playmaker, normally so swift in thought, had taken a moment he would have seen a lob would have been a better option, but he rushed his shot and the chance was gone.
Liam Scales replaced Auston Trusty at the start of the second-half that went goal crazy. Taylor sparked it off in the 56th minute with a low drive from the edge of the box after a Paulo Bernardo right-wing corner-kick.
The defender, attempting to atone for his earlier howler, smashed in a shot that took a nudge off Nico Raskin before wrong-footing Butland on its way to the back of the net.
Inside three-and-a-half-minutes on the hour mark, Rodgers’ men were ahead after Maeda snapped onto a loose clearance from Propper, hurtled away from Leon Balagun, drew Butland from his line and then stroked the ball home with unerring accuracy.
AIR WE GO…Nicolas Kuhn celebrates his strike for number three.
Eleven minutes later, Rodgers introduced Ralston and Engels to the action as they replaced Johnston and Bernardo.
Schmeichel then produced two exellent saves to deny Mohamed Diamande and Vaclav Cerny before some astonishingly slack defensive play allowed Diamande time and space to twist and scored a second goal in the 78th minute.
Rodgers reacted immediately to send on Idah for Kyogo and three minutes from time he saw his team take the lead for the second time.
It was a superbly-constructed move involving Schmeichel and Ralston before Kuhn played in Engels on the right.
The Belgian expertly teed up Kuhn as he arrived in the box and the winger fired past the stranded Butland.
Celtic’s flaws on this occasion were exposed with two minutes when Danilo was allowed space in front of Schmeichel to head in a right-wing cross from Cerny.
That forced extra-time, James Forrest came on for Kuhn and added to his impressive medal haul thanks to the heroics of Schmeichel and the spot-kick expertise of Maeda.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston (sub: Ralston 71), Carter-Vickers, Trusty (sub: Scales 46) Taylor; Bernardo (sub: Engels 71), McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn (sub: Forrest 106), Kyogo (sub: Idah (78), Maeda.
