Rangers 0 Celtic 1: Moussa Dembele sends Celtic through to the Scottish League Cup final with late winner
Dembele scored the decisive goal in a tense Old Firm derby at Hampden Park as Rangers go out at the semi-final stage
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MOUSSA DEMBELE provided a piece of magic late on to see off Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semi final at Hampden park
Referee Craig Thomson was called into action after quarter of an hour in the Old Firm derby when Barry McKay went down after a challenge from Jozo Simonovic, but after appealing for a penalty McKay was booked for diving.
Moments later Scott Sinclair had a brilliant chance but after breaking forward, his strike was denied by a solid save from Matt Gilks.
But Gilks nearly gifted Celtic the lead after him and Jason Holt were foolishly passing the ball around in their own box and Tom Rogic intercepted a mishit pass from the keeper but he could not get a shot away, letting Rangers off the hook.
The Gers held on and kept Celtic at bay for the remainder of the half but Brendan Rodgers' side had the ball in the back of the net four minutes after the restart, but Erik Sviatchenko's header was disallowed for a foul on Clint Hill.
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Rangers' defence was carved open soon after when Rogic and Sinclair had linked up but Gilks denied the latter six yards from goal.
But after weathering a second-half storm Mark Warburton's side had a huge chance to take the lead through Holt but his shot from James Tavernier's cross was superbly blocked by Simonovic.
On 70 minutes Sinclair curled a free-kick from a dangerous position which hit the woodwork and Gilks was able to was able to collect the loose ball.
In the final ten minutes Sinclair drove into the box and was brought down by Lee Wallace and despite Celtic's desperate appeals for a penalty, Thomson waved play on.
Celtic continued to press for a winner and finally found a way past Gilks when Dembele showed great composure to flick in Leigh Griffiths' low cross on 87 minutes.
Celtic will face Aberdeen in the final after their finalists overcame Morton 2-0 on Saturday.