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Celtic v Dunfermline: Scottish Cup final – live | Scottish Cup
Key events
82 min: In scenes that no Scotland fan wants to see this close to the World Cup, Tierney receives treatment and then limps to the touchline. He returns to action but is about to be replaced. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him.
GOAL! Celtic 3-1 Dunfermline (Cooper 80)
Dunfermline pull a goal back. Seconds after coming on as a substitute for Andrew Tod, Josh Cooper sweeps home from close range after a shot was blocked his way off … I think, Kieran Tierney. I think that was his first touch!
76 min: Celtic double-substitutions: Sebastien Tounekti and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replace Nygren and Yang.
GOAL! Celtic 3-0 Dunfermline (Iheanacho 73)
Celtic extend their lead! Following a shout for handball in the Dunfermline box, Iheanacho does a soft-shoe shuffle that sends Pars skipper Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen into the Hampden car-park. Showing remarkabnle close control, Iheanacho then jinks past Robbie Fraser, takes the ball around goalkeeperAston Oxborough and prods into the empty net. That is a superb goal.
72 min: AListair Johnson pulls a ball back into the Dunfermline penalty area from the byline but it’s cannons off a defender and out of danger.
70 min: There’s a short break in play so Dunfermline striker Chris Kane can receive treatment on a bloodied nose.
69 min: Having weathered the Dunfermline storm for 15 minutes of this second hgalf, Celtic are reasserting themselves. They’ve had a habit of letting games drift away from them for long periods throughout this season but they seem to have got away without being punished on this occasion.
66 min: Kelechi Iheanacho taps home a squared ball from Yang to put the game beyond Dunfermline but the flag goes up. Was Yang offside? Was Iheanacho? I think it was Yang and the VAR officials agree.
64 min: “Dunfermline goalkeeper Aston Oxborough must feel like Iain Pearson’s da on his worst night of wooing long ago,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Caught out of position for the first and just hopelessly out of step with the play for the second.”
62 min: Amade controls a pass just outside the Celtic penalty and sends a dipping shot bouncing just wide of the upright. Sinisalo had it covered but it’s another shot across the Celtic bows.
61 min: Andy Tod tries to stand the ball up at the Celtic far post, forcing VIljami sinisalo to slap it away. Dunfermline are unrecognisable from the side that played the first half.
59 min: Dunfermline substitution: Alfons Amade on for Abdulai in midfield. Celtic substitution: Kelechi Iheanacho on for James Forrest. One presumes he’ll play as a striker, with Maeda moving out wide.
57 min: Both Dunfermline substitute strikers are bald and both are playing like men possessed. With Liam Scales dawdling on the ball surveying his options Chris Kane clatters into him.
55 min: Martin O’Neill is looking pensive on the touchline, with Dunfermline giving the Celtic manager plenty to think about. They’ve set up in a 4-3-3 in this ghalf, having played with five across the back in the first.
53 min: Auston Trusty gets booked for dragging Kane to the ground as the two players tussled while chasing a long ball down the left wing. There was six of one and half-a-dozen of the other in that challenge and the Celtic defender was probably unlucky to get a yellow card.
51 min: Dunfermline are doing an excellent job of keeping Celtic penned back in their own half. If they could score av goal, this final would become a lot more interesting.
49 min: Neil Lennon has replaced both his strikers and brought on a right wing-back in Shea Kearney. On the BBC coverage, Scott Brown describes the changes as “brave”. It’s working so far, as Dunfermline have posed more threat in the opening four minutes of this half than they did in the entire first.
47 min: It’s a positive start to the second half for Dunfermline, who win their first corner of the match. Nothing comes of it.
Second half: Celtic 2-0 Dunfermline
46 min: Play resumes and Dunferlmline make three changes. Shea Kearney, Zak Rudden and Chris Kane are on for John Tod, Morrison and Oakley-Booth.
An email: “So after all that, Celtic are going to win the double, Askou’s away to Toulouse and St Mirren are probably going to hoof their way past Thistle tomorrow and continue stinking up the Premiership,” writes James Humphries. “Reminds me of the punchline to that old joke about the guy’s first day in hell: ‘Right lads, teabreak’s over – back on your heads’.”
An email: “Are we allowed to call this the Jock Stein Derby?” asks Iain Pearson. “The great man cut his managerial teeth at Dunfermline including some great European nights. My mum was a regular at East End Park and it took her decades to forgive my dad for missing one of the great nights: Fairs Cup 1961-62. They were dating.
“Dunfermline had beaten Everton in the first round, then lost by four goals to Valencia in Spain. It was a dreich night and my mum was about to marry up … which meant my dad was a rugby man. He convinced her to go to the movies at The Palace, instead of a wet and ‘pointless’ football match. The manager at The Palace, projected the scores as the goals came in. By the time The Pars had scored their fourth, my dad was no longer getting his goodnight cuddle. Jock Stein, doing an early massive European night out.”
And they say romance is dead. A story fit to grace any Scottish Cup final minute-by-minute report.
Half-time: Celtic 2-0 Dunfermline
The sides troop off with Celtic enjoying a commanding lead courtesay of an extremely dominant performance. They had to survive an early scare following a mix-up between Alistair Johnson and VIljami Sinisalo before going ahead courtesy of fine strikes from Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels.
45+1 min: Yang curls a very inviting low cross through the Dunfermline penalty area but James Forrest is unable to get on the end of it. It’s half-time.
45 min: Half-time approaches as the chances of a major upset disappear over the horizon. Celtic are two goals up and in toital charge of this game. Neil Lennon has a big job on his hands to try to rally his players during the break. If they can score the next goal, they’ll have a chance.
42 min: Dunfermline’s Charlie Gilmour has been booked for some indiscretion or other, apologies – I didn’t see what. He was also at fault for the Engels goal, making little or no effort to close down the Belgian as he shaped to shoot. Watching it again, it’s obvious that Oxborough the Dunfermline goalkeeper was also caught completely flat-footed.
40 min: It was an excellent strike from Engels, who ran on to a short pass from Callum McGregor to send his long-range dipper past Oxborough, whose view was impaired by some of his own teammates. Celtic had acres of space to operate in outside the Dunfermline penalty area.
GOAL! Celtic 2-0 Dunfermline (Engels 36)
Celtic double their lead! Arne Engels beats Oxborough with a dipping shot from about 30 yards out. The goalkeeper saw it late but possibly should have done better.
35 min: Maeda runs on to a quickly-taken free-kick and pokes it goalwards before Oxborough can clear his lines. His effort is too gentle and Ngwenya is able to clear.
33 min: Another ball in behind from Celtic, which forces Aston Oxborough to the very edge of his penalty area to head clear under pressure from Maeda and Yang. The Dunfermline goalkeeper wasn’t taking any chances.
32 min: Yang and Engels combine down the left wing only for the Belgian to run into a stout wall of red resistance in the form of Pars skipper Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen. Good defending.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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