Scottish Cup reaction: Callum McGregor, Olivier Ntcham strikes lead Celtic to double-treble

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Celtic have won a historic second successive treble after a 2-0 win over Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final.

Callum McGregor opened the scoring early with a superb volley before Olivier Ntcham doubled the lead in the 25th minute.

Motherwell improved in the second half, with Curtis Main being denied by Craig Gordon and Gael Bigirimana seeing his free-kick bounce off the crossbar.

The results means that Hibernian have qualified for next season’s Europa League after finishing fourth in the Scottish Premiership after Celtic had already qualified for the Champions League by winning the league.

Reaction

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: “We set out to win three trophies, but I need to push them even harder next year.

“There are improvements we can make. We’ll go away, recover and come back with big motivation in the summer.

“For us to be the first team to have done it [successive trebles] is a real privilege and a real special day. Through all the different eras of the game up here, certain teams have dominated and then it flipped, and in all that time it was never achieved.

“It will probably take time to enjoy it. My feelings are more with the supporters, the players, the staff, the board that brought me in a few years ago. I’m so happy for them.

“We can be nothing but inspired by the Celtic support and their commitment to us. Wherever we go, they’re always there. To give them a day like today gives me real satisfaction.

“There’s not many days in your life when you wake up with a chance of creating history. The players had a chance to create a memory that will last the rest of their lives.”

Callum McGregor: “We pretty much won the game in the first half.

“To seal a double Treble, it will probably never be done again, so to be part of that… I can’t describe it.

“We knew we had a chance to make history. When you get that opportunity, you can’t let it pass you by.”

Cover Photo: Flag of Scotland by Christoph Strassler used under license by CC BY-SA 2.0.

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