Celtic remain in the hunt for a domestic double after thrashing 10-man Aberdeen 4-0 in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
Aberdeen had looked the livelier of the two sides from the opening whistle, but their momentum was shattered by a red card to Andrew Considine in the 18th minute.
The Dons defender tripped up Gary Hooper as he stole into the area on Scott Brown’s pass, earning himself a dismissal at Pittodrie for the second successive time against Celtic.
Anthony Stokes took the penalty kick but failed to beat goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, though it mattered little to the end result as an unbalanced Aberdeen came unstuck in the second half.
Former Dons defedner Charlie Mulgrew started the rot with an expertly taken free kick four minutes from the restart, unleashing a skidding drive that skipped through the wall and past a diving Langfield.
Aberdeen had a goal ruled out for offside eight minutes later, and within seconds Celtic were up the other end extending their lead through Wales midfielder Joe Ledley, who turned Stokes’ cross past Langfield from inside the box.
Stokes was again involved six minutes later, cut down on the run by Derek Young for a second penalty that was taken and converted by Kris Commons.
And there was still time for one more as substitute attacker Shaun Maloney, brought on for Ledley in the 70th minute, had the simple task of finishing off another whipped-in cross by captain Scott Brown six minutes from injury-time.
Celtic, who are one point behind leaders Rangers on the Scottish Premier League table, can wrap up the second leg of a potential domestic double when they take on Motherwell in the final on May 21.
Motherwell defeated St Johnstone 3-0 in Saturday’s semi-final.
Sun 17 April, 2011