Does winning another Treble motivate Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers? No sitting on the fence from the Hampden Park specialist yesterday afternoon as poor old St Johnstone paid the price for their smash and grab victory against a more comfortable Celtic side with a 5-0 hammering at the national stadium yesterday afternoon…
Flares at Hampden yet again but not from the huge Celtic support
The Perth club has plenty of farmers in their support and they play close attention to weather conditions and many probably realised that lightning would not be striking twice yesterday as the Scottish Premiership’s bottom side took on the runaway leaders in the Scottish Cup semi-final at the National stadium.
They stayed on their farms as a tiny St Johnstone support lit up Hampden with red flares – which will surely see a punishment incoming from the Scottish FA.
Dogged defending worked for a while
The Saints dogged defending worked for a while under Callum McGregor scored and opened the flood gates. It was 4-0 and game over with the goals coming in a devastating quarter of an hour spell before the knock-out whistle as the referee counted to ten then blew up for a break. Daizen Maeda scored twice, Adam Idah once.
I’ve seen enough, Greg Taylor must stay!! 🏴🍀
(🔊 Sound on) pic.twitter.com/kkqxBumrqY
— Fitzy (@Fitzy__07) April 20, 2025
Idah was fouled in the second half with referee Calum Scott having a perfect view of a double handed push in the irishman’s back in the middle of the park. He looked carefully but waved play on as Viljami Sinisalo found himself picking the ball out of the Celtic net yet again despite having had nothing to do.
Two lengthy VAR checks but stonewall penalty denied
A lengthy VAR check correctly scrubbed the effort early in the second half and when James Forrest went on one of those brilliant runs of his he seemed to be halted by an arm across his face inside the penalty area after a possible trip just outside the box. Scott wasn’t well placed but pointed to the spot, Andrew Dallas on VAR called him to the screen and the penalty was scrubbed, presumably because the trip was outside the box, or regarded as not being a foul. The arm across Forrest’s face was completely ignored. We will await Willie Collum’s thoughts on this one.
James Forrest penalty given by ref Callum Scott after getting forearmed in the face running into the box. Andrew Dallas on VAR overturned it as ‘clear & obvious error’ to give a penalty. Wouldn’t be Scottish football without an absurd decision from the Referees at some point… pic.twitter.com/2e93zQA1Eu
— The Global Tablet of Jurisprudence (@gtj1247) April 20, 2025
No time added as Saints put out of their misery
One of the five Celtic substitutes Jota scored from a tight angle to make it 5-0 as both sides used all their substitutions in that second half, so with that happening and those two VAR checks with the referee being called to the screen on both occasions, we got to the 90th minute and Calum Scott blew the final whistle without the fourth official raising his board to tell us how many minutes were added on.
Jota is off the bench and on the scoresheet 🔛 #ScottishCup | Tactical View 📋 pic.twitter.com/NTYwhm5DFK
— Scottish Gas Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) April 20, 2025
Not the best day’s work from the rookie referee.
Back to Brendan’s Treble Yell
Back to Brendan being asked about the prospect of winning another treble provide him with extra motivation?
“Clearly, yes it does. Three point one it will be as well! (Or three point three, three actually). “Of course it’s nice when it comes to you as an individual. But it’s about what’s best for Celtic and us winning the trophies.
“It’s not so much the trophies for me on a personal level, it’s the hard work that goes into it. The values that are there, the idea of how we work and how we play, how we coach the players every day. That’s what’s more important to me. But, of course, for the club and the history and the supporters, getting the trophies is key. We have two more to go”
🆕📺 | Post match reaction:
I asked Brendan Rodgers about the historic achievement that awaits him should Celtic secure a treble this season, as it would make him the first manager in the club’s history to win three domestic trebles. pic.twitter.com/61MAWTH7UA
— Callum McFadden (@Callum7McFadden) April 20, 2025
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