An electric performance from Celtic saw them sail through to the final of the Premier Sports Cup as they demolished previously unbeaten Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park.
Goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers (29), Kyogo Furuhashi (32) and Nicolas Kuhn (59) followed by a hat-trick from the irresistibly good Daizen Maeda (40, 48, 85) handed Celtic a dominant victory over their opponents.
Following an unexpected 15 delay to kick-off due to low visibility from pyrotechnics, it was Celtic who seized control of the match very early on and it was a performance that cemented their status as Scotland’s best, while Aberdeen now know the size of the challenge ahead of them if they aim to beat them this season.
This result ended manager Jimmy Thelin’s 16-game unbeaten start as Dons boss and they will look to regroup back on Premiership duty next weekend against Dundee.
Celtic, meanwhile, await Rangers or Motherwell in the final next month back at Hampden Park.
Here is how we rated each player out of ten for their display at Hampden Park:
5. Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic) - 8
Grabbed the vital first goal and was never troubled by the Aberdeen forwardline. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group
6. Gavin Molloy (Aberdeen) - 4
Struggled with the pace of the Celtic forward line all evening and exposed a little too often. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group
7. Auston Trusty (Celtic) - 8
Neat and tidy. Simply never troubled by Aberdeen. | SNS Group
8. Slobodan Rubežić (Aberdeen) - 4
Like his defensive partner, he struggled with the pace and movement of Celtic's forward-line. Was dispossessed too easily for the goal that allowed Maeda to run clear and set up Kyogo. | SNS Group