Hoops breeze past ten-man Aberdeen to reach Scottish Cup final

Celtic saved their triple treble quest firmly on target as they swept nine-man Aberdeen apart 3-Zero to e-book a spot in subsequent month’s Scottish Cup remaining.

The Dons had been holding their very own at Hampden till they misplaced Dom Ball to a second yellow card after a ugly conflict of heads with Ryan Christie.

Celtic shortly made probably the most of their man benefit as James Forrest fired them forward in first-half stoppage time.

Odsonne Edouard’s penalty and exact end from substitute Tom Rogic rubbed salt into Pittodrie wounds because the Reds additionally had Lewis Ferguson despatched off.

Derek McInnes had been seeking to lead Aberdeen into his fifth remaining as boss however each he and his assistant supervisor Tony Docherty completed the sport watching from the stands as in addition they misplaced their self-discipline on the touchline within the face of a inexperienced and white onslaught.

Hoops interim boss Neil Lennon will now look to spice up his possibilities of touchdown the publish completely by wrapping up the membership’s third straight home clear sweep once they tackle remaining opponents Hearts on Might 25.

Lennon’s file at Hampden with Celtic was combined after notching up six wins and 5 defeats from his earlier 11 visits throughout his first stint in control of the Hoops.

However an upset by no means appeared probably this time as Celtic began like they meant enterprise.

Defender Jozo Simunovic was the unlikely early threat but saw two decent chances evaporate as the Dons were forced to weather an early storm.

It took Aberdeen 36 minutes to finally conjure a chance as Greg Stewart released Ball down the right, with his cross finding Sam Cosgrove who hooked wide with a volley.

But within seconds the game took a major swing in Celtic’s favour as Ball got his marching orders. Already on a booking for a trip on Forrest, he was shown a second after his head cracked against the cheek of his former Pittodrie team-mate Christie in a sickening collision.

While Ball trudged down the tunnel, there were worrying scenes as medics rushed to attend to the stricken Celtic player.

Christie was placed in a neck brace before eventually being carried off on a stretcher after a five-minute hold-up.

Rogic took his place whereas McInnes was pressured to rejig his personal plans as ahead Stevie Might made method for defender Michael Devlin.

Aberdeen’s response to the restart was faster and so they nearly snatched the lead as Ferguson headed broad.

However it was Celtic who made the breakthrough 75 seconds into the six minutes of added time. Forrest collected a brief cross on the correct from Callum McGregor then gave Max Lowe the slip with the dip of a shoulder earlier than smashing an unstoppable drive previous Joe Lewis.

The Dons keeper was pressured to dam together with his toes as Forrest burst via once more seeking to put the sport to mattress earlier than the delayed interval.

However Celtic refused to relent because the motion resumed. There was a let-off when Lowe cleared a McGregor shot off the Dons line however the clincher got here from the penalty spot simply after the hour mark.

Devlin acquired caught ball-watching as Mikael Lustig threw a cross into the field. Unaware Jonny Hayes was lurking behind him, he instinctively threw out a hand, hauling down the Irishman to depart referee Craig Thomson with no option to award the penalty, which Edouard transformed for his 20th purpose of the season.

Aberdeen’s day went from unhealthy to worse on 67 minutes as Ferguson was subsequent to go after diving in to Rogic with a disgraceful two-footed lunge.

The Australian took his revenge in the one method he is aware of how as he bounced as much as hearth residence quantity three from the ensuing free-kick.

Lustig fired into the wall however the ball rebounded straight to Rogic who calmly took a contact earlier than sending a candy end into the underside nook.