Celtic seal historic Treble with Scottish Cup final victory over Inverness | OneFootball

Scottish CupSaturday, June 3, 2023Hampden Park

Celtic...3(Kyogo 37, Abada 65, Jota 90+1)

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1(MacKay 84)

It was a historic day at Hampden Park as Celtic secured a record eighth Treble with a 3-1 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup final.

A brilliant first half strike from Kyogo was followed up by Liel Abada’s finish from close range just past the hour mark.

The Scottish Championship side did attempt to make a late comeback, however, Jota was on hand to grab a third and seal the trophy for the Hoops.

In the opening stages of the game, Celtic were looking to hurt Inverness in wide areas straight from the off.

On a number of separate occasions, Greg Taylor attempted to find Daizen Maeda down the left, but the pass just wasn’t seeming to come off.

That seemed to be the story of the Hoops’ first half as the Bhoys attempted to find the all-important opening goal of the game.

Matt O’Riley was the first to have meaningful attempt on goal. A cleared cross into the box fell the way of the Danish under-21 internationalist, however, he couldn’t trouble Mark Ridgers with his bouncing effort which went wide of the target.

Inverness were having very little joy going forward, but were remaining rigid at the back aiming to stifle the Celtic frontline.

However, they were almost victims of their own downfall after a slack pass from Wallace Duffy fell in the path of Reo Hatate, who instantly looked to get on the break.

Following a nice interchange between the midfielder and Jota, Hatate looked all set to unleash a shot, before slipping and losing possession.

It was a difficult opening half an hour for the Celts, who were still trying to get into full rhythm, and particualry for Kyogo who had very little action in front of goal.

But, on the 37 minutes, the clinical Celtic striker sprung into life and opened the scoring with a fantastic first time finish.

A low ball into the box from O’Riley landed in the path of the Japanese forward, who smashed the ball into the top corner of the net to give Ange Postecoglou’s side the lead before the break.

Just moments later, the 28-year-old came close to grabbing his and Celtic’s second goal of the game.

Tomoki Iwata’s threaded pass allowed Kyogo to pick up some space and he attempted to find the far corner with an outside of the boot finish. But once more, the strike couldn’t trouble Ridgers goal.

At the break, Ange Postecoglou was forced into a change as Liel Abada was introduced in the second half to replace Daizen Maeda who appeared to have picked up a knock.

The Celts kicked off the half going in pursuit of a second goal, and it was Jota who was causing down the left after switching sides.

The winger burst down the left hand side and attempted to pick out a teammate with a clever pass inside the area, but he just couldn’t create the opportunity.

With the Hoops holding a slender lead, there was still a way back into the game for the Scottish Championship side, and they tried to hit on the break on a few occasions early in the second half. However, both Carl Starfelt and Tomoki Iwata were standing firm to any threats coming their way.

It took until just past the hour mark for Celtic to grab their second goal of the match, and it came from substitute Liel Abada.

Following a cynical foul on Reo Hatate at the half way line, Celtic captain Callum McGregor remained switched on and took a quick free kick which left the Inverness backline exposed.

The midfielder continued his run inside the penalty area, being found with a reverse pass from Jota before putting the ball across the six yard box.

As ever, Abada made a well-timed run in from the back post, and was on hand to tap the ball home from close range to give Celtic a two-goal advantage.

The Bhoys had half chances to grab a third via O’Riley and second half substitute Sead Haksabanovic, but neither could trouble Ridgers.

With around six minutes left to play, Inverness pulled a goal back as Daniel MacKay emphatically smashed the ball home with a diving header after a perfect delivery into the box from Wallace Duffy.

Just minutes after Inverness pulled themselves back into the game, Haksabanovic had another chance to regain Celtic’s two goal advantage which was well saved by the goalkeeper.

But the Hoops didn’t have to wait long to seal the cup, as Jota tucked the ball home at the back post from Abada’s delivery to make the score 3-1.

From that moment, the celebrations were underway on and off the pitch at Hampden Park as the Bhoys secured a historic eighth Treble.

Fixtures

Celtic Vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle - Sat, Jun 3rd 2023, 17:30 Final score: 3 - 1 Match Report