Marvin Bartley has picked out the ‘turning point’ of Celtic’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup final yesterday afternoon.
It was a gripping afternoon at Hampden, which could easily have gone either way.
The Hoops didn’t start well and deservedly found themselves behind at the break after Nedim Bajrami eventually profited from Greg Taylor’s error.
The left-back soon found redemption, though, drawing his side level not long before Daizen Maeda put them ahead.
Mohamed Diomande then equalised for the Gers, and although Nicolas Kuhn looked to have won it late on, Danilo’s header took the game to extra time.
Brendan Rodgers’ men prevailed on penalties, but Rangers will be kicking themselves after they spurned a four-on-one chance when they led by a goal to nil.
Had they been more clinical, they would’ve gone 2-0 ahead, and from there, there likely would have been no way back for Celtic.
Bartley hailed said moment as key in yesterday’s match: “What a cup final that was,” he said (X).
“CCV defending that 4v1 was the turning point. Bad attacking [or] great defending?
“Take your pick, but I’m going with CCV being colossal in that situation!”
Cameron Carter-Vickers more than proved his worth to Celtic in defending the four-on-one; few centre-backs in the country would have prevailed in such a situation.
While Hamza Igamane made a poor decision to play the ball wide to Bajrami, the American got across well and expertly sent the ball out for a corner.
It was a critical action which springboarded the Bhoys to victory.
