Celtic will meet Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup final next month following a thrilling encounter with St Mirren at Hampden, which concluded with a remarkable period in extra time.
With the score even at 2-2, four goals within six minutes overwhelmed the Paisley team after they had rallied from two goals down to push the game into extra time.
During that extra time, rapid strikes from substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and Luke McCowan shattered the Buddies’ morale before Iheanacho hammered in a fifth goal. Additional flair was provided when Sweden international Benjamin Nygren scored his 20th goal of a remarkable debut season.
It features manager Martin O’Neill going up against his former midfield key player, Neil Lennon, in a replay of the 2007 final, where the Pars fell 1-0 in their latest appearance in the season’s finale.
It appeared exceptionally tough on a St Mirren team – and their 17-year-old keeper – who responded remarkably after allowing goals in both the opening and closing minutes of the first half.
Daizen Maeda’s rapid pressure capitalized on a mistake by goalkeeper Ryan Mullen to provide Celtic with a perfect beginning just 57 seconds in, and a brilliant strike from Anthony Ralston increased the advantage right before halftime.
Celtic struck the woodwork with efforts from Arne Engels and Hyun-Jun Yang and lamented their failure to finish the match when Mikael Mandron’s header brought St. Mirren back into the contest shortly after halftime.
His excellent, strong strike in the 91st minute appeared to signal a shift in the Paisley team’s favor, but the Scottish champions discovered a couple more gears during extra time.
Everything occurred after a somewhat tumultuous start when Mullen—filling in for the injured Shamal George—had to leave due to injury after 14 minutes, leading to a professional debut for teenager Grant Tamosevicius. The young player had a few impressive saves but couldn’t do much against Celtic’s overwhelming attack during extra time.
The record 42-time champions have reached the final on 23 May but had to put in significant effort to secure their spot.
