Martin O'Neill seals double for Celtic as Hoops beat Dunfermline to Scottish Cup

Celtic have beaten Dunfermline in the William Hill Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.

Martin O’Neill’s side ran out 3-1 winners to lift the trophy for the 43rd time in the club’s history.

The victory at the national stadium seals a league and cup double for the Northern Irishman.

Pars boss Neil Lennon was unable to get the better of his former Celtic and Leicester City manager after going into the break 2-0 down.

A rally at the start of the second half looked optimistic for the Fife club as they pulled a goal back with ten minutes left to play, but Celtic’s dominance shone through in the Glasgow sunshine.

Two first-half goals from Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels put Celtic in command of the game as Dunfermline struggled to get to grips with the final.

The Japanese winger chipped the Dunfermline goalkeeper in the 19th minute after John Tod failed to clear the ball.

Engles then fired in a second for Celtic in the 36th minute with a ruthless shot from 25 yards out that flew past the helpless Aston Oxborough.

Dunfermline did pull a goal back on the 80th minute through substitute Josh Cooper after a shot from Rudden was blocked. It fell into the path of Cooper, who swept it home.

O’Neill made one change from the side that sealed the title in the 3-1 victory over Hearts last Saturday.

Veteran James Forrest was handed a start in place of Tunisian winger Sebastian Tounekti, who had to settle for a spot on the bench.

It was a dominant start from Celtic as they controlled the tempo of the game, with Dunfermline failing to get a single touch for the first 90 seconds of the match.

The first real moment of interest came in the seventh minute in the form of a Celtic penalty claim.

Maeda positioned himself in front of Pars defender Tod in the box and appeared to have been bundled over, but the referee waved away any claims.

The Pars almost took a shock lead just two minutes later when Alistair Johnston failed to clear the ball as it bounced in the box.

Callum Morrison poked the ball beyond Viljami Sinisalo, who was in no man’s land, leaving Liam Scales scrambling to clear the ball off the line to save the Hoops’ stopper’s blushes.

In the 19th minute, Celtic did break the deadlock through the boot of in-form Japanese winger Maeda.

A long ball from right-back Johnston from deep was missed by Tod, allowing the Hoops attacker to nick the ball and lob on-loan Motherwell goalkeeper Oxborough, who was caught off his line.

It was Maeda’s ninth goal in seven games in what could be his final appearance for Celtic.

Four minutes later, O’Neill’s side came close to doubling their lead when Yang fired a shot from a tight angle into the side netting after a lay-off from Engels. However, the offside flag was raised.

It was one-way traffic for the opening 30 minutes, and it paid off for the Scottish Premiership champions when Belgian international Engels lashed the ball past a stranded Oxborough from 25 yards out to give Celtic a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute.

Engels has scored just four goals this campaign, but having netted the vital penalty in the league decider against Hearts last Saturday and the second of the day at Hampden, it’s been a fruitful season for the midfielder.

Lennon rang the changes for the second half by bringing on Chris Kane, Zac Rudden and Shea Kearney in place of Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Callum Morrison and John Tod.

It was a fast start to the second period from the Pars as they trailed 2-0. Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen won an early corner. However, Nurudeen Abdulai got the header all wrong, and the chance was gone.

However, the three changes made by Neil Lennon at the break had re-energised the Pars crowd as they dominated the title winners in the early stages.

Auston Trusty was the first player in the referee’s book on the 53rd minute after he was deemed to have pulled down Kane on the left-hand side.

Kelechi Iheanacho was then welcomed into the fray at 58 minutes in place of Forrest. While Alfons Amade came on for Nurudeen Abdulai for Dunfermline.

Just moments later, Amade almost had an immediate impact on proceedings when he unleashed a fierce shot from outside the box that narrowly flew past the post.

Celtic thought they had ended the game as a contest in the 66th minute when Yang played a ball across the box to Iheanacho, who passed it into the net, but the flag went up instantly for offside.

The Hoops, however, did find a third goal in the 73rd minute through super-sub Iheanacho.

Benjamin Nygren slid the ball through to the Nigerian as he went inside Chilokoa-Mullen, who handled the ball on its way through.

The Hoops forward jinked away from the Pars goalkeeper and fired the ball into the net to make it 3-1 at Hampden.

John Tod was next to leave the field for the Pars, and his replacement, Cooper, gave the Fife side some hope with an 80th-minute goal to make the score 3-1.

Kane fed Rudden down the side of the box, the latter lashing a shot towards goal only for it to be blocked. However, it fell into the path of Cooper, who fired it home at the back post.

Kieran Tierney was replaced by Marcelo Sarrachi in the 86th minute after looking like he had taken a knock just a few minutes before.

Four minutes of injury time were played out before roars rang out around Hampden Park as Celtic won their 43rd Scottish Cup.