It's fair to say that very little has gone to plan for Celtic so far this season.
A 16 point lead for Rangers at the top of the SPL table and an early exit from the Europa League has led to fans protesting outside Celtic Park and calling for Neil Lennon to be sacked. If Lennon is to turn the tide in his favour this season, then winning the Scottish Cup Final against Championship side Hearts at Hampden Park was an absolute necessity. And they did...just.
At half-time Celtic were cruising. A magnificent strike from Ryan Christie set them off, when he skillfully captured the ball with his left foot before whipping a beauty into the top corner - a goal worthy of any cup final.
INCREDIBLE strike for Ryan Christie as he delivers another Hampden screamer 🔥
"It's an absolute wonder of a goal from Ryan Christie!" 🗣 pic.twitter.com/YQC0cE3HMd— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
Before the half hour mark the lead was doubled. From a Celtic corner, Shane Duffy's header was handled and they were awarded a penalty. Odsonne Edouard delivered as cool a panenka as you are likely to see, and at that stage it looked like Celtic were on course for a comfortable day out at Hampden.
Penalties don't get any cooler than this! 😎
Odsonne Edouard doubles Celtic's lead 🍀 pic.twitter.com/jxuLSLaoOn— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
It wasn't long after half time before the tide began to turn. A Liam Boyce header brought Hearts back into it.
.@JamTarts are right back in this! 💜
Liam Boyce heads home and it's game on at Hampden 👀 pic.twitter.com/vmN7FUt5EV— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
Hearts then introduced Josh Ginnelly who had a big impact on the second half, regularly running in behind the Celtic defence and causing them problems. They were level on 67 mins when Stephen Kingsley's header was judged to have crossed the line.
Hearts EQUALISE! 😱
They've come back from 2-0 down and are now the team with all the momentum in this #ScottishCupFinal 💜 pic.twitter.com/5WPymzT1ZS— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
In the latter stages of normal time, Hearts looked the more threatening side, with Ginnelly missing a huge chance in stoppage time. Shane Duffy was taken off with a hamstring injury at the end of normal time and when the teams re-started, Hearts continued to threaten. But Celtic re-took the lead moments before the end of the first period of extra time, when a powerful header from Scott Brown was saved by Craig Gordon, and Leigh Griffiths was alive to the re-bound to turn it in.
Leigh Griffiths with the extra time goal for Celtic! 😱
Will that be the goal to win the Scottish Cup and a quadruple treble for Neil Lennon's side? 🍀 pic.twitter.com/icduDtpAhx— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
From here, Celtic would have expected to close the game out, but it wasn't to be. Eight minutes from the end, Josh Ginnelly equalised for Hearts when Celtic failed to deal with a scrappy set-piece. It was deserved for Hearts who showed great courage to come back twice and stay in the game.
Oh my word...Ginnelly brings Hearts level again! 😱😱
This is a cup final for the ages at Hampden Park 🙌 pic.twitter.com/imjRsbl0lb— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
So with the sides level at 3-3, it went on to penalties.
The first miss of the shootout came from Celtic goalscorer Ryan Christie, when Gordon made the save. But Hearts failed to make it count as Celtic keeper Conor Hazard made two huge saves to allow Christopher Ajer slam the winning penalty home and deliver an historic moment for the Scottish champions.
"This has just been the most dramatic, the most incredible of Scottish Cup finals!" 🗣
Celtic win the Scottish Cup for the 40th time and complete the quadruple treble! 🍀🏆 pic.twitter.com/Xv8we6pO9e— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
The Celtic supporters will be hugely relieved with the win given how the game panned out, but their moment of joy was almost spoiled when the live feed cut out moments before Ajer's winning penalty.
Historic Moments you want to see again and again, thank you Premier Sports 🙏🏼💚 pic.twitter.com/2V25sNEBw1
— Joe McKeown (@JoeTheMcKeown) December 20, 2020
Anybody’s telly freeze at the last penalty 😡
— CELTIC CHAMPIONS 🟢⚪️🍀 (@Gino73612743) December 20, 2020
But a poorly timed technical glitch won't be enough to spoil the moment. It was a huge moment for the club and for Neil Lennon in particular, who couldn't hide his emotion when speaking after the game.
🍀 Neil Lennon on what today's win means to him, and where it puts him in Celtic history
🗣 "You've no idea. I'm getting emotional here." pic.twitter.com/ikanFV4z1l— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) December 20, 2020
Scott Brown was immense for Celtic in his usual combative style, frequently clashing with Stephen Naismith throughout. Brown was also involved in a pull-apart with some Hearts players after the whistle. But it wasn't enough to spoil a classic final where Hearts were extremely unlucky to come away with nothing.
It marks an incredible twelfth consecutive trophy for Celtic, the quadruple treble, in a season where they would win an historic tenth consecutive league title if they can manage to haul Rangers back in the title race. It is an unprecedented run of dominance over four years that Celtic fans will savour.
EXTREMELY HAPPY!😍 You made my day Bhoys in Green!💚
We are the 2019/20 @ScottishCup winners! #QuadrupleTreble!🏆
A 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 achievement and indescribable emotions! Let's celebrate this magical night! Flaming hugs Celts!
Hail Hail!🍀🍀 #CelticFC💚 #ScottishCupFinal pic.twitter.com/ag9gaQFGYt— Ilir Meta (@ilirmetazyrtar) December 20, 2020
But looking towards the future, the manner of this win suggests that Celtic have a lot of work to do if they are to get back to their best and retain the title this season. Time will tell if this trophy is a turning point for Neil Lennon, or if it simply papers over the cracks.
