Celtic repel a final Hearts attack, in the fifth minute of injury time, and the ref blows up. We’ll be having extra time here. What a second half!
91 mins: Another chance for Hearts! And another one blazed over by Ginnelly, this time from the penalty spot to meet a low cutback from Lee, who had scampered free down the right.
89 mins: Hearts break after Christie gives it away cheaply, Ginnelly set free on the left with two more haring up in support. But he ignores them in favour of a ludicrous 30-yarder, which he blazes miles over the bar. What a waste.
85 mins: Hearts have brought on Lee for White and Wighton for Boyce.
84 mins: Both subs are involved straight away, each jinking into the box from their respective flank, but Hearts stand firm and clear Laxalt’s low cross.
83 mins: Some changes for Celtic: one that we (I) missed – Rogic on for Turnbull – and now Frimpong and Laxalt for Taylor and Elyounoussi
80 mins: Ginnelly has been a danger since coming on. He more than made up for his early miss with the devilish corner that led to the equaliser, and now he escapes down the right and batters in a rising cross which Hazard holds.
77 mins: Celtic, having finally gathered themselves, are reasserting their dominance. A Christie corner is flicked on and flashes across the face of goal, and Taylor is offering plenty of drive from left-back – all Celtic’s attacks are coming down that flank.
74 mins: Another huge chance for Edouard, Taylor fizzing one in from the left after Halkett fell over to give the ball away. It’s not the easiest chance, the ball coming at the striker with real pace, but he can’t keep his shot down.
70 mins: Hearts win the ball on halfway and break forward in numbers, their attack only halted by a last-ditch tackle on the D. They look like a good bet for the win now – and were dead and buried half an hour ago! This game has been an object lesson in momentum: intangible, immeasurable but absolutely all-important.
Un-bee-lievable!! Another wonderful corner from Hearts’ left, lashed in by Ginnelly, is met at the back post by Kingsley and his header floats over the line – just – before being shinned clear by Christie.
Christie and Brown attempt to block Kingsley’s (not pictured) header. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Kingsley celebrates as the goal stands. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
65 mins: Crunch! Turnbull and Irving absolutely fly into a 50-50 which leaves the former in a writhing heap – and suddenly Naismith is through! But he doesn’t quite have the pace to escape the defence, and his square ball is cut out.
64 mins: Now it’s Celtic encamped in their own half. This is a proper final.
62 mins: Naismith is booked after a skirmish waiting for a corner, which when it eventually arrives is a beauty: Hazard flails at the ball but doesn’t make good contact and, after some penalty-box pinball, Celtic scramble clear.
60 mins: Ginnelly’s first involvement is a golden chance to equalise! Celtic’s two centre-backs, Jullien and Duffy, makes an extraordinary mess of cutting out a simple through-ball, each leaving it to the other, and suddenly Ginnelly is clean through. But he never truly gets the ball out of his feet and his eventual effort, low to Hazard’s left, is turned away by the keeper.
57 mins: Change for Hearts – Ginnelly comes on for Walker.
55 mins: Elyounoussi scampers free down the left and collects a lofted pass from Turnbull. From the narrowest of angles he tries to beat Gordon at the near post but the keeper turns away for a corner, which comes to nowt.
52 mins: Halliday has gone from red card-in-waiting to Hearts’ best player. He saunters forward to launch another attack, but is eventually crowded out in the Celtic box.
50 mins: And immediately Edouard gets the chance to renew Celtic’s two-goal lead – but his side-foot strike, meeting Taylor’s guided cross, is directed straight down Gordon’s throat. A lucky escape for Hearts.
Game on! Hearts score with their first attack of the second half. White drives into the box and lays off to Halliday who dinks a cross on to the head of Liam Boyce. His header is cushioned nicely back where it came, into the far corner. From nothing, we have a football game.
Boyce scores with a header. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
46 mins: Normal service quickly resumes, with Celtic passing the ball around among their defence and midfield, and Hearts hanging back chasing willingly.
The second half is about the get under way and, by the looks of it, no changes from either side at half-time.
It’s been a stroll for Celtic so far. Neilson needs to work a Christmas miracle in the next 15 minutes, or it’s 12 in a row for Lennon’s boys.
43 mins: Halliday’s yellow card hasn’t curbed his enthusiasm for crunching tackles. He absolutely hurtles into a challenge on Christie out on the flank. He gets plenty of ball, and the winger jumps straight back up, but that was a bone-rattler.
41 mins: Brown shows his worth with a couple of low-key extinguishings of Hearts attacks – two in the space of a minute, both nipped in the bud on the halfway line.
38 mins: Hearts need a plan going forwards. Their hopeful long balls down the flanks have caused Celtic few problems. Another such pass, gamely chased by Boyce, is snuffed out with ease by Jullien.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson kicks the ball on the touchline. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
35 mins: Chance for three. The irrepressible Christie burrows forward down the right and side-foots into the box to Edouard, whose low shot is met by a smart save from Gordon.
33 mins: Andy Halliday is booked for a reckless lunge on – yep – Scott Brown. Hearts’ frustrations building already.
Odsonne Edouard ambles up and dinks the laziest of panekas down the middle of the goal. Gordon lunges to his right in vain. Exquisite!
Edouard scores from the penalty spot. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters
Edouard celebrates with team mates Brown and Elyounoussi. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Elyounoussi picks out Taylor, whose driven cross is put behind. The corner is met by Duffy, who heads the ball into Berra’s wildly raised hand. Penalty!
23 mins: Hearts will have to come out now, which you’d think would play into Celtic’s hands. They certainly seem the more incisive going forward, although as Naismith’s chance showed, they are hardly invulnerable when attacked. At the other end, Edouard dances into the box and lays off to Elyounoussi whose shot is charged down.
WHAT A GOAL! Christie has been a class above everyone else on the pitch so far and he gives his side the lead with a moment of absolute magnificence. Collecting the ball from the right, on the edge of the box, he spins and sets himself all in one movement, then bends a 20-yard curler into the far corner. Craig Gordon, at full stretch, had no chance. Inch perfect.
Christie scores from outside the box. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Celtic manager Neil Lennon celebrates. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters
17 mins: Those early signs of an uber-defensive Hearts look a tad misleading – they’re actually playing with a fair bit of ambition. Brown and Naismith clash in the centre-circle.
14 mins: Turnbull heaves in a free-kick from the right. It’s cleared straight back to him, and he does a couple of keepie-uppies before belting a volleyed cross back into the danger area. The ball just evades two attackers and goes out for a goal kick.
13 mins: Christie, Celtic’s best outlet so far, steams down the right and rattles in a low cross with his weaker right foot. Berra lunges to clear for a corner, which comes to nothing. And suddenly Hearts are on the attack! Irving plays a ball round the corner to Naismith, Hazard rushes out, gets nowhere near the ball, and Naismith prods goalwards … but just wide.
11 mins: But that’s the outlier so far. This is quickly turning into a training-ground, attack-v-defence type of soiree. Celtic’s centre-backs are playing well into the opposition half when their team has the ball, with Hearts retreating like their life depends on it. Ajar makes inroads down the right and swings one in from deep, and Gordon charges out to collect authoritatively.
9 mins: Hearts enjoy their first proper spell of possession, Irving and Smith keeping it well on the right, but can’t find an opening.
Another great not-quite-Christmas film: Eyes Wide Shut. Atmospheric, haunting, Tom Cruise’s most interesting role – and set in Christmassy Manhattan.
7 mins: Turnbull spins beautifully in a crowded midfield, escaping two men to begin a period of sustained pressure from Celtic. Hearts encamp themselves in their own half.
5 mins: Celtic mount their first meaningful attack with Christie jinking in from the right and dropping n a cross. It’s half-cleared to the incoming Taylor who unleashes one from range, but his shot is wild and sails well over.
2mins: The first piece of goalkeeping from young Conor Hazard – he collects a tricky inswinging Irving free-kick, the ball bobbling through a crowd. He holds well - that’ll do him some good.
And we’re off. Hearts start quickly, working the ball down the left and White whipping in a cross that doesn’t find a teammate and is cleared.
The teams march out. And everyone has their game faced foirmly affixed. Flames tear upwards in front of a crowd of zero. Neil Lennon looks like he means business.
I guess we can be grateful for live sport in this festive season of locked-down despair joy. But I sense the old repertoire of Christmas films will be getting even more of an airing this year. The best Christmas movies? The correct answer is, as we all know, a dead heat between Home Alone and Die Hard. But here’s a recommendation: Happiest Season – a real gem, available now on a streaming platform near you. Your favourite Christmas films?
Ho ho ho.
Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Craig Gordon, of course, won this trophy twice as a Celtic player. And get this: he has never lost a final, as either a junior or senior player. Today would be his 10th victory in a row.
Celtic fans greet the team bus - about as much as they can do to back their team in a game that will be played behind closed doors
Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Pre-match reading – a fantastic interview with Hearts’ chairwoman, the self-made multimillionaire, who saved her club from the clutches of administration:
The big team news is that Scott Brown starts for Celtic. The wind-up merchant extraordinaire had sat out the last two games – both of them wins – and hasn’t been part of a winning Celtic team since the start of November. But the veteran takes his place at the heart of midfield today.
Neilson makes one change from last week’s 6-1 win, replacing Olly Lee with Andy Halliday. And here’s a potential subplot: the keepers. Celtic’s rookie Conor Hazard is making only his third first-team appearance while his opposite number, Gordon Brown, is making his 512th. Will youthful courage or wizened knowhow win the day?
Ho ho ho! Thought your Christmas was going badly? Spare a thought for Neil Lennon, whose inglorious return to Celtic has seen the club’s hated rivals gain the upper for the first time in a decade and his own fans taking to the streets to call for his head. That was a month ago, after lowly Ross County knocked his side out of the this season’s League Cup. Today’s fixture: Celtic v Hearts in the final of last season’s Scottish Cup. Do keep up.
But more importantly it’s a fixture Lennon can draw some much-needed good vibes, as it was in this game last year (ie two seasons ago – do keep up) that he secured the treble-treble, coming to Celtic’s rescue after one Mr B Rodgers has skedaddled to the East Midlands. A win this time would make that a quadruple-treble: an absurd achievement, and yet one that would offer no guarantees about his job.
The folks standing in their way are another historic heavyweight, led by a former player, whose status has taken a dramatic nosedive in these bizarre last few months. Relegated by a hugely controversial SFPL vote after last season was curtailed, Hearts have since been fuelled by rage, and it’s served them pretty well.
They’re well clear at the top of the Championship and prevailed in a dramatic Edinburgh derby to get to Hampden. They are vengeful team with momentum on their side – in other words, exactly what Neil Lennon will not have wanted for Christmas. Strap in!
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