🏆 Celtic clinch Scottish League Cup after shootout win over Rangers | OneFootball

Celtic sealed a successful defence of the Scottish League Cup with a penalty shootout win over Rangers.

Scorers: Raskin OG 55', Maeda 60', Kühn 87'; Bajrami 41', Diomande 75', Danilo 88'

Nedim Bajrami put Philippe Clement's side ahead shortly before half-time at Hampden Park with a predatory finish after latching onto Greg Taylor's failed pass.

But Taylor redeemed himself just 10 minutes into the second half by levelling with a strike from the edge of the box which Nicolas Raskin deflected into his own net.

Brendan Rodgers' defending holders were soon ahead courtesy of Daizen Maeda punishing another Raskin mistake, this time capitalising on a poor header to Leon Balogun.

The Gers struck back in the final 15 minutes as Mohamed Diomande produced a shot on the turn to potentially send the showpiece into a half-hour of extra time.

But there was still time for more twists as Nicolas Kühn continued his streak of scoring in every round of the competition by popping up in the 87th minute.

Barely a minute later, Gers centre-back Danilo headed home another equaliser from Václav Černý's cross to confirm another half-hour of playing time for both teams.

With nothing separating the sides after extra time, the trophy was settled in a shootout, where Kasper Schmeichel denied Rıdvan Yılmaz before Maeda sealed victory.

The Bhoys have now lifted the League Cup a total of 22 times with manager Brendan Rodgers claiming his fourth across two spells.

📸 Justin Setterfield - 2024 Getty Images