Rangers 0 – 0 Celtic

Crowd trouble spoiled Celtic’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over Old Firm rivals Rangers, securing them a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Fans of both clubs flooded the pitch at full time and fired missiles at each other as police were forced to quell the violence.

It was the first time in eight years that the traditional allocation of 7,500 away tickets was granted to away supporters.

Despite failing to register a shot on target during 120 minutes of goalless football, Celtic, who lost last year’s finalists, found a way to win again. Rangers captain James Tavernier hit the first penalty on the bar, substitute Jadey Gassama burst into flames, then Tomas Kvankala scored the winner and Celtic made it 4-2 from the spot before dozens of fans stormed the pitch.

This led to hundreds of Rangers supporters moving in and missiles being hurled as police and stewards moved to form a barrier. Flare shots were thrown and there appeared to be some minor skirmishes, but then order was restored and the away fans were left to celebrate alone.

Martin O’Neill’s Celtic are now favorites to lift the trophy, with league leaders Hearts, cup holders Aberdeen and fellow top six sides Motherwell and Hibernian already out. They will find out their opponents for their final four games after tonight’s (7.30pm) match between St Mirren and Partick Thistle.

Danny Rolle’s Rangers are currently knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and Europe, meaning winning the league is their only remaining hope of winning silver.

How Celtic reached the semi-finals

Spectator trouble began well before kick-off, with Celtic supporters without tickets forcing their way into the Broomlawn Stand, and Police Scotland briefly closing the turnstiles.

On the pitch, the match started in a similar fashion to last week’s league match at Ibrox, with the home side dominating.

Celtic were without captain Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney after sustaining injuries against Aberdeen in midweek.

With the return of Auston Trusty after a three-game league suspension, Luke McCowan moved into central midfield and Liam Scales moved to left-back. Daizen Maeda started from the middle.

There was also a notable absence from the Rangers squad as John Souter was benched along with Tochi Chukwani.

The hosts put pressure on from the start, but there was a flashpoint when Trusty blocked Youssef Cermiti’s attack with his arm. However, it was forced into his body and video assistant Andrew Dallas did not call referee Don Robertson to the monitor.

Rangers had the upper hand in the first quarter, but that was the only real scare for Celtic and the visitors grew into the game.

The away fans cheered when Maeda scored with a diving header 10 minutes from half-time, but it was ultimately ruled offside by VAR after Scales headed home McCowan’s cross. This was one of the few moments in the game when Celtic posed a threat.

Dujon Sterling and Chelmiti looped attacks before the break, and Rangers spent most of the second period inside Celtic’s half.

Hoops goalkeeper Virdjami Sinisalo withstood the aerial pressure well and quickly got through his line to deny Cermiti after a mistake by Benjamin Artur. The visiting team needed a final block, especially from Trusty and Sebastian Tunekti, to keep the score clean.

Rangers pushed Celtic back with a physical advantage, but there was little rest for the visiting side, who finished the 90 minutes with an entirely new front three of Joel Mvuka, Kvankala and James Forrest.

This pattern continued until overtime. A block from substitute Dane Murray denied Celmiti and Rangers had a goal ruled out by VAR after a corner kick the ball went into the net from the hands of Emmanuel Fernandes.

A good opportunity saw Cermiti volley wide, and the game remained one-sided until Sinisalo made a save from Nedim Bajrami and Rangers had 24 shots to Celtic’s one, ending the 120 minutes.

Rangers won the spot-kick toss but were unable to capitalize on their advantage in front of the Copeland Road Stand.

Rangers captain Tavernier was the first to score, but his shot hit the crossbar.

Goalkeeper Jack Butland had saved eight of his previous nine penalties, but couldn’t get close to any of Celtic’s four clever kicks.

Gassama also felt his effort was over the top as Kvankala defended his goal well and won the shootout 4-2, causing chaos inside Ibrox.

Celtic supporters appeared on the pitch to celebrate the result, before a counter-charge from the home supporters.

Police and security intervened as the players were escorted from the stadium as fans of both teams launched missiles and fireworks at each other.

The ugly scenes have since been condemned by the Scottish Football Association, which has vowed to carry out an investigation in line with judicial committee protocol.

O’Neill: It was a real Old Firm game.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill spoke at a press conference on whether the pitch intrusion affected the team’s victory:

“That’s a concern for me. The game itself is still an incredible game, but it lost a bit of its luster because away fans or all away fans weren’t allowed in.

“You never know what’s going to happen. I think for me today, including the crowd, it was a real Old Firm game in that sense. We’ll see what happens.”

“It was a big derby game and I think there was a lot of jubilation when we won. The fans were in overflow and I think it would be very difficult to quell it, I don’t know.

“As we were coming back there was some sort of commotion and someone tried to get into the field, I don’t know, all I saw was a bit of a scrum at the bottom.

“As you say, it may taint the proceedings, but I think there was an element of self-preservation in it. I’m basing my judgment on the fact that I only saw half of it. From my perspective, this was a great win for us. Rangers are very strong and have been fighting all week.”

Roll: No one wants a scene like this.

Rangers manager Danny Rolle spoke about the pitch invasion in a press conference.

“I wasn’t on the pitch at that moment and I hadn’t seen it until now.

“I think we all know the emotional situation after a game, no one wants to see this.

“It was a great atmosphere for 120 minutes and that’s how it should be. Nothing else should be in the stadium or in the football.”