ON 18 March 2001, very impressively, Celtic, wearing their yellow change strip, took their first step to a domestic treble by beating Kilmarnock 3-0 in the Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden.
Celtic, bedevilled by injuries and non-availability, were compelled to play youngsters like Colin Healy, Jamie Smith and Stephen Crainey and early in the second half with the score only 1-0 for Celtic, Chris Sutton was harshly sent off by referee Hugh Dallas.
But Henrik Larsson who had scored the first goal, then scored another two and the game finished with Celtic’s ten men well on top of Kilmarnock’s eleven.
A crowd of 48,830 saw Celtic’s 12th Scottish League Cup win and Martin O’Neill’s first trophy as Celtic manager. Afterwards O’Neill spoke about his hat-trick hero.
“I think he’s a fantastic player, a truly great player and his second one was the most important goal.
“His third goal was absolutely world class. It was sensational finish and he just keeps getting better.
“I’ve always said that Larsson would score goals in any league and that last goal would grace any cup final at any given stage, in any century – he is a marvellous footballer.”
Here are the highlights…
