Celtic cruised into the Scottish League Cup final with a rampant 6-0 win over Aberdeen – but Brendan Rodgers will want to forget his own performance on the touchline during the victory.
Cameron Carter-Vickers broke the deadlock in the 29th minute against Aberdeen, last year’s runners-up, and Kyogo Furuhashi doubled Celtic’s advantage just moments later.
Daizen Maeda finished off a flowing move to make it three and put Celtic out of sight with just five minutes remaining of the first half at a rocking Hampden Park.
Undoubtedly the moment of the first period, though, came in injury time when the ball fell to Celtic boss Rodgers, who took an almighty swipe at the ball after his side had given away possession.
Rodgers made decent contact with this left boot but the slippery conditions did him absolutely no favours and loud cheers echoed around the stadium as the Northern Irishman lost his footing and landed heavily on his backside in his technical area.
Referee Kevin Clancy rubbed further salt in the wound by booking a red-faced Rodgers, who was, thankfully, able to see the funny side.
Even Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen had a laugh at Rodgers’ expense before play resumed towards the end of an entertaining opening 45 minutes in Glasgow.
Fortunately, the former Liverpool manager was not seriously hurt and the Hoops went on to increase the deficit in the second half, with Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn joining the fun and Maeda completing a hat-trick.
Celtic will do battle in this year’s final against either Motherwell or defending champions Rangers, who face off at Hampden Park tomorrow afternoon.
The iconic stadium will also host the final of the competition on December 15.
Watching back his slip with Premier Sports after the game, Rodgers joked: ‘That’s poor!’
Explaining his frustrations at the time, Rodgers added: ‘It was just the game. I wanted us to play that fraction quicker.
‘Even though we were comfortable in the game at 3-0, it’s still the performance I’m looking for.
‘But listen, I deserved the yellow card.’
On the comprehensive scoreline, Rodgers continued: ‘It was a testament to our players and the demands they have.
‘They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game.
‘It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.
‘Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I’m sure.’
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