Aberdeen 3-3 Celtic (5-6 on pens): Joe Hart penalty hero as Hoops reach another Scottish Cup final

Celtic emerged as the victors in an intense match against Aberdeen at Hampden Park, thanks to Joe Hart's superb penalty-saving performance. They secured a spot in the Scottish Cup final.

The goalie for Hoops prevented Killian Phillips from scoring in the shootout, despite Phillips having missed a previous penalty shot. This allowed Brendan Rodgers to continue his winning streak at the national stadium.

The match at Hampden Park was full of excitement as Nicholas Kuhn scored to even the score for Celtic, following Bojan Miovski's goal for the Dons within the first three minutes.

James Forrest entered the game as a substitute and demonstrated his value to the Celtic team by scoring a beautifully executed low shot that went past Roos, causing great excitement among the Hoops supporters.

Aberdeen did not lose the match, despite Miovski and Junior Hoilett nearly scoring. Ester Sokler headed in a goal right before the game ended.

In additional time, Matt O'Riley launched a powerful shot into the top of the goal, and then Angus MacDonald scored to tie the game and force a shootout.

Hart responded quickly during the shootout, securing his chance to finish his career by playing in the Scottish Cup final against either Rangers or Hearts on May 25th.

Celtic Triumph Over Aberdeen In Intense Hampden Battle

Brendan Rodgers had a much easier time at Hampden than he did before, yet he managed to secure his 10th win at the national stadium. This was his first game at Hampden since the League Cup final in December 2018.

The Dons surprised the favored team just two minutes into the game. Leighton Clarkson executed a flawless pass to get Miovski in a favorable position behind Cameron Carter-Vickers. As a result, the striker from North Macedonia outplayed Hart and scored his 24th goal of the season.

Celtic had a couple of opportunities to even the score, but Hyun-jun Yang missed a header and Kelle Roos managed to block Kyogo Furuhashi's attempt.

Before the 21st minute of the game, Aberdeen was doing a good job defending against Celtic. However, MacDonald made a mistake by taking a bad second touch on the ball while in his own half. Furuhashi quickly took advantage of this and ran towards the goal, but Stefan Gartenmann blocked his shot. Luckily, the ball rebounded to Kuhn, who easily scored past the goalkeeper, who was out of position.

During the first half of the game, Aberdeen was presented with a great chance to get ahead - however, the goalkeeper Hart managed to save Gartenmann's shot. Towards the end of the half, Celtic got lucky when Scales was caught handling the ball just outside the box and VAR had to check the incident.

In the 62nd minute of the game, Rodgers decided to make some substitutions. Callum McGregor was replaced by Tomoki Iwata and Yang was replaced by Forrest. Within moments of coming on the pitch, Forrest managed to block a shot and then score a goal just 90 seconds later.

The player on the side of the field made a quick move by leaning his body to the other side to pass his opponent. He then hit the ball precisely towards the far post from a distance of approximately 23 yards. This goal was his ninth one during the final rounds of cup tournaments.

When Forrest kicked the ball towards the goal, it made Roos perform a dive to save it. However, the situation in the game altered when Aberdeen added another striker, Sokler, to the field during the 79th minute.

Two high passes up in the air resulted in two great opportunities for Hoilett, who had just come on as a substitute. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to control the ball well enough on the first chance and missed it. On the second chance, Carter-Vickers managed to block the ball right on the goal line.

Sokler successfully headed the ball into the net from a distance of six yards, and this resulted in Celtic losing due to a bad forward pass made by substitute Luis Palma. The opposing team passed the ball to Hoilett, who then crossed it over to the opposite side of the goalpost, where Sokler was waiting to score.

At the start of the extra-time, Sokler made a wide stab that could have been deemed offside if the game had gone to VAR. However, Celtic regained their lead and managed to score in the added time of the first half.

Forrest made a precise pass that enabled Alistair Johnston to make a run and cross the ball back for O'Riley, who scored a goal by hitting the top corner of the net from a distance of eight yards.

The tense situation persisted. Adam Idah's goal, which he headed, was invalidated for being in an offside position. Later, Idah was unable to score when offered a pass across the field from O'Riley.

Celtic managed to avoid another VAR penalty decision when Carter-Vickers took hold of Hoilett, and the video referees supported referee Don Robertson's belief that Aberdeen's winger had committed a violation against Johnston only moments before.

Sokler failed to make a goal from a short distance, but MacDonald managed to head the ball in, which was almost an exact copy of Sokler's equalizer. This caused an outburst of enthusiastic celebrations among the players and fans standing along the edge of the field.

The shootout in the game had unexpected turns. At first, seven penalties were made and all of them successful. However, Roos experienced cramps and required medical attention, which caused a lengthy pause. Unfortunately, Ryan Duncan's attempt hit the post after the wait.

Celtic supporters were surprised when Hart took the penalty kick that could have secured their spot in the final. Unfortunately, the goalie missed and hit the post.

Hoilett scored and leveled the match, leading to an overtime scenario. However, Hart ultimately triumphed by stopping Phillips' shot.

Managerial Perspectives On..

Brendan Rodgers, manager of Celtic, stated that the team needs to focus on creating more scoring opportunities during games. He emphasized the importance of starting strong and maintaining a high level of intensity throughout the match in order to secure a victory. Furthermore, he stressed the need for effective communication and team chemistry to ensure success on the field. Overall, Rodgers has identified key areas for improvement in his team and is working to implement strategies that will lead to better performance.

For a better viewing experience, we recommend utilizing the Chrome web browser when accessing the video player.

During the week, we examined penalties and Joe was always appointed to take the fifth shot.

Since their goalkeeper was injured, the player attempted to kick the ball away from him, but unfortunately it went slightly too far.

However, his mindset enables him to remain undisturbed, and the eventual outcome was evident.

He didn't hit every target, but he ultimately became the hero.

Joe has dedicated a significant amount of effort to improving his mental state over an extended period. He possesses an optimistic and lively personality.

Many individuals had generous and compassionate personalities. It seems as though we require emotional support sessions rather than just football practices.

The players of Aberdeen are quite skilled, and they were available to play without any cost. Therefore, I am immensely pleased for them as we are returning to this place on May 25.

We can anticipate discovering our opponents and then we focus on ignoring that and looking ahead to five extremely important matches in the league.

Peter Leven, who is currently the temporary manager of Aberdeen, has expressed his thoughts on the team's recent performances.

If you want to watch the video more easily, try using the Chrome web browser.

I'm really disappointed. Penalty kicks can be unpredictable, but I felt that the team played amazingly well and put in their all.

Ever since my arrival, I have regularly observed that way of thinking among them which made me certain that they possessed such a quality.

As I reflect on the match, our team had numerous great opportunities to score against an excellent Celtic squad. It's disheartening to lose, but I feel a sense of pride in the efforts of our players.

This marks our 50th game for the season, and a considerable number of our players have never experienced such a season before. We participated in European competitions and made it to the final of the League Cup.

"They sacrificed their all for the supporters and the employees."

The upcoming game for Aberdeen will take place in their home stadium against Motherwell on April 27, commencing at 3pm.

Celtic will be playing again in the Scottish Premiership on April 28th against Dundee, which will be shown live on Sky Sports. The game starts at 3pm.

Watch Sky Sports On NOW - Ad Content

Watch live sports on Sky Sports without any binding commitment by subscribing to a monthly or daily membership on NOW. Get immediate access to live matches from Scottish Premiership, Premier League, EFL, F1 and numerous other sports.

Discover additional information in this section...