Celtic have won the 2011 Scottish Cup after defeating Motherwell 3-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.
Ki Sung-Yueng's fantastic first half goal set Celtic on their way, with an own goal from Stephen Craigan all but sealing the outcome 14 minutes from time. Charlie Mulgrew then belted in a late free-kick to ensure Neil Lennon's first trophy in the Bhoys hotseat, the perfect end to a turbulent campaign for him and his team.
The game was just a minute old when the returning Kris Commons sent in a cross that Gary Hooper diverted onto the Motherwell crossbar. However, the offside flag was up in reserve to save Stuart McCall’s men, who were appearing in their first Cup final for 20 years.
Daniel Majstorovic then became the first of a raft of players to be booked when he fouled John Sutton, with Majstorovic’s team-mates Scott Brown and Ki, and ‘Well’s Keith Lasley, also going into referee Calum Murray’s book early on.
Georgios Samaras and Hooper both failed to find the target with headers that resulted from a Mark Wilson cross, as the first half got to half an hour with neither Darren Randolph nor Fraser Forster having had a save to make. Two minutes later though, the former was picking the ball out his net.
Commons kept the ball from Steve Jennings before laying off to Ki some 25 yards out, and the South Korean sent a glorious fizzed effort beyond Randolph’s reach and into the corner of the net.
Gavin Gunning rattled a fierce effort off the underside of the Celtic bar in response, before a Sutton appeal for a penalty was waved away when he wanted Glenn Loovens penalised.
The Bhoys were then furious themselves, with more reason, when Craigan escaped punishment for a clear handball on the edge of the Motherwell area shortly before the interval.
McCall’s men came out for the second half in search of a quickfire goal, but Chris Humphrey’s volley was too soft and easy for Forster to hold.
Samaras was doing little to impress at the other end, Randolph smothering his weak effort before a brave Tom Hateley block got in the way of a well-struck Mulgrew effort.
Shaun Hutchinson then cleared off the line from Commons, with Motherwell clearing the loose ball before Hooper could pounce. Soon after the pondering Samaras was withdrawn for the fiery Anthony Stokes, who emphasised that description by immediately going in the referee’s notebook when catching Craigan with a fierce tackle.
The pain only increased for Craigan when he then inadvertently doubled Celtic’s lead. Commons was the architect, cutting the ball back for Wilson, whose shot took a wicked deflection off of Northern Ireland defender Craigan, deceiving Randolph and nestling in the net.
Motherwell were on their feet now as Commons sent another effort over and Craigan’s wretched afternoon continued when his foul on Hooper in the 88th minute led to the third and final Bhoys goal.
Mulgrew stepped up to hit the free-kick left-footed from the edge of the area, absolutely leathering it into Randolph’s top right-hand corner.
There was still time for Stokes to flash an effort wide, but there would be no fourth goal for Celtic. Still, that mattered little. They had nothing to celebrate with last week’s heavy win over Motherwell, but that was certainly not the case on Saturday as Lennon joined the illustrious list of trophy-winning Bhoys bosses.