The celebrations at Hampden were wild as Celtic won the first trophy of the season – and their rivals could only suffer the pain of watching them for so long.
The Hoops wrestled back the Premier Sports Cup back from Rangers and clinching an incredible tenth under Brendan Rodgers. It was one of the best games of football our national stadium has seen as the two Glasgow behemoths slugged it out in the wind and rain. It finished 3-3 after 120 minutes, the heavyweights landing haymaker after haymaker, Rangers first leading then twice coming from behind to take it all the way to penalties.
In the end though it was the team who have been here and done it more often that stepped up when it counted and lifted the trophy for the 22nd time in their history. Daizen Maeda was the man who made sure of it with the final spot-kick but Kasper Schmeichel, whose decisive save from Ridvan Yilmaz in the shootout teed it up, took a deservedly prominent place in the middle of the platform.
As Celtic went up to lift the trophy, James Tavernier insisted some of his Rangers teammates stayed out to watch it, but by the time the fireworks went off, even the captain had headed for the tunnel. Only Cyriel Dessers and Jack Butland remained out on the pitch for the duration, before turning their back and heading for the changing room as Callum McGregor lifted the silverware aloft.
Off camera, Brendan Rodgers came over to shake a courteous Philippe Clement’s hands, a sign of respect after a battle that truly could have gone either way. But as it so often is when these two have met recently, it was Celtic celebrating, while Rangers traipsed off