BBC News | Football | Rangers take treble (original) (raw)

Celtic 0-1 Rangers

Rangers won the first Old Firm Scottish Cup final in 10 years, giving them a sixth domestic treble and denying Celtic a single trophy in a painful season for the Parkhead club.

The Bhoys will consider themselves unlucky, after creating a number of chances.

But striker Henrik Larsen had a rare off day and the Rangers defence held firm with Colin Hendry playing through the pain of a groin injury and Lorenzo Amoruso winning the man of the match award.

Amato and Moravcik battle away

Equally importantly for Scottish football, the game passed off without major incident or controversy following the scenes the last time the two clubs met, 27 days earlier.

All eyes were on referee Hugh Dallas and the players after the league game at Parkhead saw three dismissals, a missile thrown at the official and public order problems around Glasgow.

Perhaps as a result the match started in a subdued atmosphere and the first shot - from Celtic - did not arrive until the 14th minute.

A pattern of the side in green and white enjoying more of the ball with Rangers looking to break was set at this early stage.

On 16 minutes a Neil McCann run was checked by Johan Mjallby, who was booked before Jorg Albertz wasted the free kick.

Tempers briefly flare

Two minutes later promises of good behaviour were forgotten for a split second as another unnecessary foul was committed by Lubomir Moravcik on the edge of the area.

Hugh Dallas: No major controversy this time

Amoruso received a strict lecture from referee Dallas as the heat increased within the rebuilt Hampden Park.

Rangers came closer with this free kick but not as close as Celtic's Paul Lambert two minutes later,

He hit the woodwork from almost 30 yards out before the Gers' best chance of the half was wasted by Wallace.

The striker's control let him down after he had run clear and Jon Gould pounced to deny the former Leeds player.

Rangers take lead

The second half started with Rangers by far the sharper, and within four minutes of the restart Wallace had given them the lead.

A ball was played into the Celtic box, which McCann managed to turn behind Wallace's man-marker Annoni.

The Englishman was six yards out with Gould to beat, and he made no mistake to score his 27th of a productive first season in Scotland.

McCann: Impressive winger set up Wallace

Jo Venglos's side looked like they needed a change, and the Celtic coach turned to another former Aston Villa man in a bid to provide Henrik Larsen with more support up front.

Tommy Johnson, whose time ijn Glasgow has been badly disrupted by injuries, came on for Annoni.

He did not make an immediate impact although by the hour mark Celtic were looking more likely to score, with Rangers still happy to soak up pressure.

Half chances

Morten Wieghorst, Stephane Mahe and Alan Stubbs all had half chances saved by Klos.

Johnson also saw an effort deflected just wide with 17 minutes of normal time remaining.

The pressure was starting to build with Rangers unable to get the ball out of their half, particularly after McCann went off injured.

Andrei Kanchelskis came on after 77 minutes, presumably to help Rangers keep the ball when they broke.

And they had a chance to finish it when Albertz ran down the left after 81 minutes, but Gabriel Amato's effort was saved superbly by Gould.

With three minutes to go a number of shots from the edge of the Rangers area were charged down and Amoruso eventually deflected Lambert's long range effort wide.

Celtic's fans at the same end of stadium howled for a penalty but replays showed the ball came off the Italian's chest for a corner.

Referee Dallas had got a crucial decision right, and it turned out to be Celtic's final real chance of a dispiriting afternoon, despite almost five minutes of injury time.

Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Hendry, Amoruso, Vidmar, McCann, McInnes, Van Bronckhorst, Wallace, Amato, Albertz. Subs: Ferguson, Wilson, Kanchelskis.

Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Mahe, Stubbs, Larsson, Wieghorst, Lambert, Annoni, Blinker, Moravcik, Mjallby. Subs: O'Donnell, Johnson, Kerr.

Referee: H Dallas (Motherwell)