Celtic completed a domestic double on Saturday, beating Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park to add the cup to the Scottish Premiership title secured just seven days earlier, with veteran manager Martin O’Neill capping what may prove his final game in charge of the club.
Daizen Maeda opened the scoring in the 19th minute, with Arne Engels doubling the lead in the 36th, before Kelechi Iheanacho extended the advantage in the 73rd minute. Josh Cooper’s late reply for Dunfermline amounted to little more than a consolation in front of a crowd of 49,613 at Hampden.
Celtic survived an early scare when Callumn Morrison capitalised on hesitation in the Celtic defence and poked an effort towards goal, only for Liam Scales to recover brilliantly and clear off the line, a warning that quickly sparked Celtic into life.
Maeda’s opener was a composed finish, lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Aston Oxborough after being played in by Alistair Johnston. Engels then struck a powerful effort from 25 yards that left Oxborough flat-footed to make it two before the interval. Iheanacho’s third was the goal of the day, evading three defenders with sharp footwork before slotting home after latching onto a Benjamin Nygren through ball.
The victory came a week after Celtic snatched the Premiership title from Hearts, with O’Neill, 74, leading them to cup glory in what could be the last match of his third spell in charge.
The result gave O’Neill nine major honours as Celtic manager across a 26-year association with the club. He is yet to agree to stay on next season, and the prospect of his departure hung over an otherwise joyful occasion at Hampden. There was additional symmetry in the opposition dugout, where Dunfermline were managed by Neil Lennon, a central figure in O’Neill’s most celebrated Celtic and Leicester City sides.
The victory extended O’Neill’s remarkable record at the club, with the veteran manager adding another major honour to his long list of achievements in Glasgow. Whether it marks the end of his tenure or a prelude to a permanent return will be the defining question of Celtic’s summer.
