Rangers 0-1 Celtic: Jota header sinks Old Firm rivals in semi-final to keep treble dream alive

Jota heads Celtic successful beforehand astatine Hampden conscionable earlier half-time

A first-half header from Jota was capable to settee a tense Old Firm brushwood astatine Hampden, sending Celtic into a Scottish Cup last against Inverness Caley Thistle.

Jota simply had to motion connected people from a fewer yards out.

Celtic volition beryllium steadfast favourites to implicit a treble against Championship absorption connected 3 June, portion Rangers, the defending champions, look up to a play without a trophy.

The holders had chances to level successful the 2nd half, with James Tavernier hitting the woodwork and Fashion Sakala blameworthy of a atrocious miss from the rebound.

This was the 5th Old Firm gathering of the campaign, with Celtic good connected apical successful the head-to-heads, winning four, with 1 league gully astatine Ibrox, wherever the Glasgow rivals conscionable again successful a fortnight.

Celtic, who bushed Rangers successful the League Cup last successful February, could good person the rubric wrapped up by past since they request conscionable 1 much triumph to unafraid the Premiership crown.

• Reaction & arsenic it happened

Neither goalkeeper had overmuch to bash successful the archetypal fractional arsenic a deflected changeable from Nicolas Raskin fizzed wide of Joe Hart's station successful the opening minute, portion Allan McGregor thwarted efforts from Alastair Johnston and Jota without excessively overmuch fuss.

Celtic were attacking with much menace amid the continued chaos of blocks, hacks and last-ditch tackles, but it was a corporate deficiency of absorption from Rangers which allowed Jota to unfastened the scoring - on with speedy reasoning from Maeda.

Borna Barisic and others successful bluish stopped, anticipating a foul adjacent the borderline of the punishment area, and that allowed Maeda to bargain successful and whip the shot crossed goal. Jota couldn't miss with his close-range header arsenic helium ghosted distant from James Tavernier.

Rangers had 45 minutes to salvage their play and started the 2nd play with accrued intensity, though it needed a sprawling prevention from Allan McGregor to support retired a crisp changeable from Kyogo Furuhashi.

Hart matched his chap veteran's athleticism soon after, tipping wide a raking onslaught from Scott Arfield.

The Celtic keeper was beaten by a Tavernier changeable from 18 yards but the shot crashed against the post, with Sakala wasting a glorious accidental by firing the follow-up into the side-netting.

A header from Tavernier thumped into into the turf and implicit and Hart had to look lively to propulsion a debased transverse retired of Arfield's way earlier the Rangers midfielder swept implicit from the borderline of the punishment area.

With Rangers increasing much hopeless successful hunt of a mode back, Celtic sat deeper and deeper, absorbing each their aged foes could propulsion astatine them successful the closing stages.

More to follow.