{"id":23929,"date":"2025-05-25T10:47:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T10:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=23929"},"modified":"2025-05-25T10:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T10:48:07","slug":"aberdeen-win-scottish-cup-end-celtic-treble-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=23929","title":{"rendered":"Aberdeen win Scottish Cup, end Celtic treble bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agency Report<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years as goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov inspired a penalty shoot-out triumph that ended Celtic\u2019s treble bid on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitov saved spot kicks from Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston in Aberdeen\u2019s shock 4-3 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Hampden Park.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bulgarian\u2019s heroics were a stark contrast to Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel, whose 83rd-minute own goal gave Aberdeen a lifeline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schmeichel\u2019s blunder cancelled out an earlier own goal from Aberdeen\u2019s Alfie Dorrington in the first half.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic hit the post twice but could not find a winner and McGregor was left in tears after the shoot-out prevented Celtic clinching a sixth treble in nine seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aberdeen\u2019s first major trophy since the 2014 Scottish League Cup capped Jimmy Thelin\u2019s first season in charge in memorable fashion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to dream big. Everybody has to believe and then anything can happen. We spent all week trying to visualise winning this game,\u201d Thelin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe players were tired, they were cramping but they kept believing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you need some luck, but the hard work was amazing from the players.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dons had matched Celtic in the first 11 games of the Scottish Premiership season, but their form collapsed in spectacular fashion as they finished fifth after losing their final five matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

They had also conceded 19 goals in their previous five meetings with Celtic, who were firm favourites to follow their Scottish title and Scottish League Cup successes with yet another trophy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t play anywhere near the standard we needed to,\u201d Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said after the first final defeat of his managerial career<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAberdeen defended well, that made it difficult for us. With the greatest respect, it was more ourselves. We failed to get to the level you need to get to.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can have no complaints, we didn\u2019t do enough in the game. We cannot blame anyone else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rodgers\u2019 men made the breakthrough in the 39th minute when Cameron Carter-Vickers met Arne Engels\u2019 corner with a glancing header that hit Dorrington\u2019s shoulder and diverted in off the post.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daizen Maeda headed over before Engels hit the post from 18 yards as Celtic pressed for the second goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Aberdeen refused to surrender and a loose pass from Paulo Bernardo in the 83rd minute proved costly for Celtic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shayden Morris delivered a low cross and Schmeichel scooped it into his own net under no pressure in an embarrassing howler.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dons substitute Dante Polvara volleyed just over from 12 yards and Pape Habib Gueye shot straight at Schmeichel in a tense extra-time period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic\u2019s Jeffrey Schlupp rattled the crossbar from 20 yards but Aberdeen held firm before Mitov secured their second major trophy this\u00a0century.<\/span><\/p>\n

AFP<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years as goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov inspired a penalty shoot-out triumph that ended Celtic\u2019s treble bid on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10768,5791,10769,10770],"class_list":["post-23929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-aberdeen","tag-celtic","tag-scottish-cup","tag-treble-bid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23932,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23929\/revisions\/23932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}