The first silverware of the Scottish season was on the line when old firm enemies Celtic and Rangers met. Brendan Rodgers's side won 5-4 on penalties thanks to a Daizen Maeda strike after the game, which finished 3-3 after extra time.
In an eventful game both on and off the field, Celtic won another trophy in an ever-growing period of dominance, making it their 119th major trophy (one more now than Rangers). Republic of Ireland internationals Adam Idah and Liam Scales played huge roles.
Idah showed his composure by slotting home a penalty in the shootout. At the same time, Scales replaced American Auston Trusty for the start of the second half and was involved in perhaps the most controversial incident of the game when he brought down Vaclav Cerny to give away a free just outside the box, but on closer inspection, the defender's foot was inside the box.
Speaking to Premier Sport, under-fire Ranger manager Philippe Clement, whose side currently sit third and 11 points behind Celtic, couldn’t believe his side wasn’t awarded a spot kick.
“We were the team that got the most chances in the game,” Clement told Premier Sports,
"There’s also a penalty situation on Cerney, so it’s weird that the referee wasn’t at least asked to go and watch the monitor because we got a free kick on the edge of the box. Still, his foot is on the line, so I think it’s a clear penalty, and at least it deserved a discussion from the referees.
It was a crucial moment in the game, so we didn’t get that. Also, that was a lot in one game, but I am very happy with my players' performance today, especially after a big European game Thursday night, where they lost a lot of energy. We lost even more energy today, creating so many chances and scoring three really good goals.
We had some conversations, but no officials connected them, so that is something people from outside need to discuss and take a look at. I don’t get why there wasn’t any communication on that situation, but I'm only going to focus on my team and what we need to do over the next few weeks and months to get better.
We know there's a big financial gap, but the players showed today that the gap on the field is not as big as people have been talking about for the last couple of months.”
In his post-match press conference, Clement implored journalists to 'dig into' why there was no communication between VAR and the ref.
"I know that all of you guys really like to dig into things, so maybe it's also a very important moment to dig into that, about why there's no communication in that moment about that. A big decision like that, because it's clear to everybody it's a game-decisive decision. So last thing I hope that you guys really dig into this."
With another loss against their big rivals the Belgian needs to deliver a major run at the end of the season in the Europa League and the end of the domestic campaign if he wants to be around for another while yet.
