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- Dembele settles Old Firm semi in style
Dembele settles Old Firm semi in style
Celtic will play Aberdeen in November's Scottish League Cup final after Moussa Dembele's goal sealed a 1-0 win over Rangers.
Scottish League Cup semi-final: Rangers 0-1 Celtic
Moussa Dembele's late winner gave Celtic a 1-0 Old Firm victory over Rangers on Monday (AEDT) and booked a place in the Scottish League Cup final against Aberdeen on 28 November (AEDT).
A tight clash was settled with three minutes remaining when Dembele somehow stabbed home a low Leigh Griffiths cross between the legs of goalkeeper Matt Gilks with his trailing foot.
Rangers were hugely improved from September's 5-1 thrashing at the hands of their fierce rival, in which Dembele scored a hat-trick, but they still fell to another dramatic defeat.
There was controversy as early as the 15th minute when Barry McKay was booked for simulation after going down in the box under a challenge from Jozo Simunovic. Rangers initially though they had won a penalty, but it soon became clear the referee had blown in Celtic's favour.
Rangers goalkeeper Gilks almost gifted Celtic the opener midway through the half when he passed straight to the impressive Tom Rogic inside the six-yard box, but the Australian was unable to hold his nerve in front of goal to open the scoring.
Celtic thought it had broken the deadlock five minutes after the restart when Rogic headed home from Scott Sinclair's cross. However, Rogic was adjudged to have fouled Clint Hill in the process.
Gilks was busy in the Rangers goal but, with extra-time looming, there was little he could do about Celtic's winner.
Substitute Griffiths did superbly down the left channel and, when he squared the ball, Dembele's flicked finish from his trailing leg beat Gilks.
The Rangers stopper denied Griffiths a second for Celtic when the forward raced clear on goal and Brendan Rodgers' side held on to book a meeting with Aberdeen in the final on 28 November (AEDT).