Scottish Cup Quarter final Sunday, March 8, 2026 Ibrox RANGERS…0 CELTIC…0 Celtic win 4-2 on penalties Celtic are through to the Scottish Cup semi final after defeating Rangers 4-2 at Ibrox on penalties. Martin O’Neill was without Kieran Tierney and his captain Callum McGregor, with both men unable to feature after injuries sustained during the Hoops’ 2-1 victory against Aberdeen on Wednesday. The match got off to somewhat of a frantic start and with only three minutes on the clock, Don Robertson produced the first card of the afternoon, showing Mohamed Diomande a yellow for a poor challenge on Julián Araujo in the middle of the park. The home side then carved out a chance for Youssef Chermiti, the scorer of two first-half goals last week, but his effort from the edge of the box went well wide after he was put under pressure by the Celtic defence. The massive travelling Celtic faithful were buoyed by a promising attack from the Hoops just shy of the half hour mark which saw Liam Scales, in at left back for today’s match, whip a dangerous ball into the box which the home side scrambled clear for a Celtic corner, though Martin O’Neill’s men weren’t able to make anything happen from the set-piece. That passage of play, however, gave Celtic confidence that they could get in behind the Rangers defence and seven minutes later, a ball in to the box from Luke McCowan was flicked on by Liam Scales and turned in to the back of the net by Daizen Maeda. After a VAR review though, the goal was ruled out for offside and the home side were given a reprieve. The Ibrox side had a big opportunity to take the lead with a few minutes of the half remaining when Chermiti ran on to a ball in to the area from Dujon Sterling, but his shot from close range went over the bar and the sides went in level at the break.Celtic created a chance early in the second half when Sebastian Tounekti sent a ball up the wing for Benjamin Nygren to chase. The Swede was able to get on the end of it and send it across the box towards Daizen Maeda but the Rangers defence prevented the Japanese forward from getting his shot away. Sinisalo was soon called in to action, producing a wonderful save down to his left as the home side tried to bundle the ball over the line from close range after sending a cross in to the box from a corner. With 10 minutes of the second half gone, Martin O’Neill made his first changes of the afternoon, bringing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tomas Cvancara on for Luke McCowan and Sebastian Tounekti, followed by a further change as Benjamin Arthur was replaced by Dane Murray. With a little over 10 minutes to play, Martin O’Neill made a further two changes as Joel Mvuka and James Forrest replaced Daizen Maeda and Yang. With neither side able to break the deadlock before the final whistle, extra-time was required and soon after the restart, Celtic rushed in to the home side’s penalty area, with Liam Scales looking like he might get a shot away, but he found himself crowded out by Rangers defenders. Dane Murray produced a big block to deny Chermiti with almost 10 minutes of extra time played when it looked like the Rangers forward was about to find the back of the net from close range. From the resulting corner, the home side thought they had taken the lead, with Tavernier’s delivery turned into the back of the net by Fernandez, but VAR ruled the goal out for handball. Before the game was restarted, Martin O’Neill made his final change of the afternoon as Benjamin Nygren made way for Paulo Bernardo in the Celtic midfield. Chermiti found himself with another massive opportunity before half time in extra time when Tavernier found him with a cross into the box, but the Rangers forward’s effort went wide of the target. Five minutes in to the second half, a poor back-pass from John Souttar looked like it was going to result in a one-on-one opportunity for Cvancara, but Butland was quick off of his line and reached the ball first. In the final minute, Celtic had a chance after Oxlade-Chamberlain found Mvuka, who in turn fed James Forrest, but his cross into the box was cut out, and the match headed to a penalty shootout. After Rangers’ captain missed the first penalty, conversions from Oxlade-Chamberlain, Auston Trusty, Reo Hatate and Tomas Cvancara gave Celtic the victory and the Hoops will feature in this year’s Scottish Cup semi final.FixturesRangers Vs. Celtic – Sun, Mar 8th 2026, 13:00
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