Celtic will face Dunfermline Athletic in next month’s Scottish Cup final after a thrilling, eight-goal epic with St Mirren at Hampden was eventually settled by a sensational spell in extra time.
With the match tied at 2-2, four goals in six minutes blew the Paisley side away after they had come from two goals down to force the additional half-hour.
In that additional period, quick goals from the head of substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and the boot of Luke McCowan broke the Buddies’ spirit before Iheanacho slammed in a fifth. Extra gloss was added when Sweden international Benjamin Nygren stroked in his 20th goal of an impressive debut season.
It pits manager Martin O’Neill against his former midfield stalwart, Neil Lennon, in a repeat of the 2007 final, which the Pars lost 1-0 in their last appearance in the end of season showpiece.
It all seemed so harsh on a St Mirren side – and their 17-year-old goalkeeper – who fought back superbly after conceding in the first and last minutes of the first half.
Daizen Maeda’s quick closing down pounced on an error from goalkeeper Ryan Mullen to give Celtic a dream start after just 57 seconds before a superb Anthony Ralston strike doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Celtic also hit the woodwork through Arne Engels and Yang Hyun-Jun and regretted their inability to kill the game off when Mikael Mandron headed St Mirren back into contention shortly after the break.
His fine, powerful shot in the 91st minute seemed to indicate the tide turning in the Paisley side’s favour but the Scottish champions found an extra couple of gears in extra time.
All of this happened after a somewhat chaotic opening spell in which Mullen – deputising for the injured Shamal George – was forced off injured on 14 minutes, meaning a professional debut for teen Grant Tamosevicius. The youngster made a couple of good saves but could do little about Celtic’s devastating onslaught in extra time.
The record 42-time winners are through to the final on 23 May but were made to work extremely hard for their place.
