Celtic secured another trophy for themselves, winning the Scottish League Cup final against the Rangers on penalties. It was a close game. The Ibrox club had taken the lead in the first half but then fell behind twice, only to equalise. Ultimately, it ended 3-3 and a Ridvan Yilmaz penalty miss proved to be the decider as Kasper Schmeichel was the hero of the day for the Hoops.
Celtic were nowhere near their best. But the Hoops still had enough in the tank to win the Scottish League Cup final against their closest rivals. That just goes to show how winning trophies has become second nature to the club at this point.
On the other hand, Philippe Clement continues to search for his first Glasgow Derby win. This is the closest that he has gotten so far.
It looks like the Rangers are taking a lot of heart from the close result rather than dwelling on losing another final against Celtic. As reported by STV News, Jack Butland said:
"Me personally, I don’t think we’ve had that fear (people talk about), but (until Sunday) we’ve not also put in a performance that warrants the belief.
“We do believe, and I think that performance showed that we have the quality to compete and to beat them. For us it feels like a matter of time, but we also want that sooner rather than later."
Jack Butland makes bold claim despite losing to Celtic again
Of course, this result might give the Rangers some confidence when it comes to their ability to compete with Celtic. But whether this is a positive or negative for them remains to be seen.
This might be a sign that the Rangers are now moving in a positive direction. Or it might prove to be the day when they could not get the better of Celtic even when the Hoops were struggling to find any sort of rhythm. That will depend on how this season plays out.
For now, Celtic fans will not be worried about that. It is time to celebrate another success. Days like this do not come around often, even for the Hoops, who are always in contention for all three domestic trophies in Scotland.