The top two teams in Scottish Football went toe to toe Saturday at Hampden Park. There was not a mention of toe nails in the aftermath of Celtic’s slaughter of the sheep. Aberdeen fans travelled with plenty of confidence after an unbeaten opening to the domestic season.
A share of the spoils at Celtic Park and a midweek win over the rangers at Pittodrie on Wednesday gave all connected with Aberdeen a false sense of security. Celtic were clinical from kick off. Kick off was delayed after a Pyro display from both set of Ultras as smoke filled the Glasgow evening air.
Celtic dominated the game from start to finish with a Man of the Match performance from Daizen Maeda who took home the match ball after his three goals. A 6-0 scoreline in a cup semi-final is impressive on a day that saw Aberdeen lose in 90 minutes for the first time since March which makes it sound even more impressive.
Celtic wasted a couple of chances before CCV popped up with a rare goal headed in from a corner. CCV partnered Trusty who Brendan Rodgers picked ahead of Scales on the left side of the central defence. Trusty getting the nod ahead of the Irish man for his speed.
We only had to wait for another 3 minutes for Kyogo to score after a pass from Maeda before he took over from his international mate to put in one of his best performances in a Celtic jersey. Funny how things turn out. On Wednesday night at Celtic Park when he made a mistake a gentleman who sits close to me mentioned that Maeda needs a shake up from Brendan Rodgers. Not sure if he got that but whatever Brendan said to him it worked. Outstanding!
With Maeda’s first goal coming close to the half time whistle both managers half time talks would have been worth hearing. Dons manager, Jimmy Thelin looked at times calmer during the game than Brendan Rodgers who looked frustrated when his Celtic players made mistakes. He ended up on his arse after slipping while kicking the ball in frustration. Referee, Kevin Clancy booked him for waving to the crowd after getting up which would suggest that Clancy is a complete arse.
Celtic continued to pile on the agony for Aberdeen after the break and the Celtic fans reminded them that our team will continue to put on the style as Maeda made it 4. Daizen was Man of the Match but Nicholas Kuhn deserves plenty of plaudits for his performance and his outstanding goal to make it 5.
The sixth and final nail in Aberdeen’s coffin came from Maeda with 5 minutes left on the clock as he collected the match ball from the back of the net to bring home for a kick about in the park with his kids.
Brendan Rodgers will be happy with another final date in his diary and had the luxury of replacing CCV, Engels, Valle, Kuhn, Kyogo with Scales, Taylor, Bernardo, Forest and Idah. The Celtic manager spoke about bringing in quality at every opportunity last season and now he is making that quality count.
Glasgow continues to be dominated by the Green and White and now the focus is firmly on Celtic Park under the lights on Tuesday Night when RB Leipzig come to town for a mouth watering Champions League clash and a much tougher task for Brendan and the players. The German Bundesliga team were beaten 2-1 yesterday away in Dortmund.
The journey up the road for the Aberdeen fans will have been a long one but we know how they feel. The journey back from Germany after we took a similar beating in Dortmund was a long and a sore one for us.
Rodgers was humble after that defeat and so was the Aberdeen manager yesterday praising his fans for staying with the team till the end and complimenting the quality of the Celtic performance. No excuses and not a mention of a toe nail.
The Scottish League Cup Final takes place at the National Stadium on Sunday December 15 against the rangers. Their fans had another sleepless night ahead of their semi-final win over Motherwell after Celtic’s trashing of Aberdeen.
Halloween may be over but will their nightmare season continues for them. There were plenty of empty seats at Hampden and banners calling for the removal of those running the club. They don’t want their manager and the club is broke.
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