A happy ending turned sour in the Scottish Cup on Sunday, March 8, when fans stormed the pitch after Celtic’s quarterfinal match with Rangers in Glasgow, Scotland.
“The Scottish FA condemns the behavior of fans entering the stadium following the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final at Ibrox Stadium,” the Scottish Football Association said in a statement. “An investigation will be conducted immediately in accordance with the Judicial Panel Protocol.”
Celtic beat Rangers on penalties to progress to the semi-final round of the bracket. Tomas CvancaraThe winning goal woke up the crowd, and the fans finally entered the stadium.
The fans started throwing arrows and darts, as the Rangers fans followed onto the pitch. The police quickly set up a barricade to try to control things.
“I’m not sure what it was at the end, I was in the tunnel,” said the Rangers manager Danny Rohl he told Premier Sports. “No one wants to see this in football.”
“It’s unfortunate. I hope that doesn’t reduce performance,” the Celtic manager Martin O’Neill added. “Old Firm games, they are explosive games. They always are. That is probably one of the reasons why the derby is one of the best in the world.”
The rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is one of the most popular football games, and it boiled over on Saturday in a hotly contested game.
A policeman and stewards forced fans back after storming the pitch following a penalty kick after the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox Stadium.
Steve Welsh/PA PhotosFormerly the country of Scotland Charlie Adam – and a former Rangers midfielder – called Sunday “an embarrassment to our game,” adding that both teams “let us down as a nation.”
“It’s a sad day for Scottish football,” said Adam TalkSPORT. “For the Old Firm we are talking about our leadership teams and [what] represent them, it’s a shame in our game.”
He continued, “And as a national team we are trying to improve and we are trying to be better. But these two clubs have let us down as a nation and they must look at themselves today. Both football teams should look at themselves because they are the ones who hold the level for us as football teams and they did it, both of them.” [sets of] supporters are disappointed.”
Celtic won the game on penalties after no team scored in the first 120 minutes. The important thing is that Celtic did not record a single goal in the whole game (Striker Daizen Maeda had a goal disallowed for offside following a VAR review).
The Rangers recorded 24 shots on goal, and were also denied a goal.
In the shootout, the Rangers captain James Tavernier hit the bar with the first penalty. His partner, Djeidi Gassamahe also missed his penalty before Cvancara’s winner ended the chaos.
