Celtic fans must be very disappointed with how the Scottish Cup semi-final against the Rangers turned out. Coming into the game having won the previous two Glasgow Derbies, there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation that they could do it three times on the trot. It was not to be though, as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side walked out of Hampden Park with a 2-1 win and a place in the final.

It was one of the dullest Celtic performances in a long time but even then, they could have easily gotten the win on the day. The Hoops took the lead through Greg Taylor and then Cameron Carter-Vickers struck the post, which would have made it 2-0 and put the game past the Rangers.

They just could not get that second goal though, and then allowed the Rangers to turn the game around.

There were some injury fears surrounding Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada as well when they came off but fortunately, they do not look like serious problems. As reported by Football Scotland, Ange Postecoglou said after the game regarding the duo:

“Liel just cramped up. He hasn’t played for a while and Maeda just ran himself into the ground.

“James Forrest allowed us to put on some extra legs but apart from that, I’m sure everyone else is okay.”

Celtic appear to have avoided any serious injury problems

Neither Maeda nor Abada looked at their best on the day. And it is hard not to feel that the team looked a bit off balance in the absence of Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The Greek striker has become a very important part of the starting XI since the start of the year and has arguably been Celtic’s best player over that period of time. The Hoops won both the previous Glasgow Derbies with him leading the line.

Giakoumakis got injured last weekend against St Johnstone but fortunately, it is not believed to be a serious issue and hopefully, he will be back in contention by next week.

With the treble hopes now up in smoke, Celtic’s complete focus has to turn towards winning the Premiership. They are in a good position, leading by six points with five more league games to go and also have a superior goal difference to the Rangers. Thus, three more wins could potentially be enough to hand them the title. Let’s hope the Hoops are able to pull it off.

This article was originally posted here