Celtic see off plucky Falkirk

by Kieran O'Daly , 29 January 2012

Anthony Stokes scored twice as Celtic beat and Irn-Bru First Division side Falkirk 3-1 at Hampden Park in the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final.


The Glasgow side will now meet Kilmarnock in the final on March 18th after Killie defeated Ayr United 1-0 after extra time on Saturday.


Falkirk had already beaten Rangers and Dundee United on their way to Hampden and were not overawed by their illustrious opponents. Kallum Higginbotham dispossessed Hoops midfielder Victor Wanyama early on before releasing Farid El Alagui at the edge of the box but his strike was narrowly off target.

Celtic then had the ball in the net only for Gary Hooper's effort to be contentiously ruled out for offside as he followed up a Scott Brown shot which had been tipped onto the post by Falkirk keeper Michael McGovern.
Celtic went close again as Thomas Rogne headed against the post but finally broke the deadlock on 26 minutes when skipper Scott Brown fired them ahead from the spot after Bairns skipper Darren Dods tussled with Rogne at a corner.

But Falkirk fought back and 17 year-old Jay Fulton equalised with a low drive on 39 minutes after some good work from Higginbotham to send the sides in level at half-time.

Celtic began to assert themselves after the break and Rogne was again unlucky to see a header come back off the woodwork before Stokes put the Hoops ahead on 56 minutes with an unstoppable free-kick from 25 yards.

Falkirk continued to compete and, although Celtic had the majority of possession and chances, they weren't comfortable until Stokes sealed the victory with four minutes remaining following good work by Gary Hooper who sent in a low cross which the Irishman turned in to put the tie beyond doubt and break Bairns hearts.

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Pos
Team P W D L +/- PTS
1.
Man City
38
28
5
5
64
89
2.
Man Utd
38
28
5
5
56
89
3.
Arsenal
38
21
7
10
25
70
4.
Tottenham
38
20
9
9
25
69
5.
Newcastle
38
19
8
11
5
65
6.
Chelsea
38
18
10
10
19
64
7.
Everton
38
15
11
12
10
56
8.
Liverpool
38
14
10
14
7
52
9.
Fulham
38
14
10
14
-3
52
10.
West Brom
38
13
8
17
-7
47
11.
Swansea
38
12
11
15
-7
47
12.
Norwich
38
12
11
15
-14
47
13.
Sunderland
38
11
12
15
-1
45
14.
Stoke
38
11
12
15
-17
45
15.
Wigan
38
11
10
17
-20
43
16.
Aston Villa
38
7
17
14
-16
38
17.
QPR
38
10
7
21
-23
37
18.
Bolton
38
10
6
22
-31
36
19.
Blackburn
38
8
7
23
-30
31
20.
Wolverhampton
38
5
10
23
-43
25
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