Celtic v Dunfermline: Scottish Cup final – live
Key events
22 min: Yang fires into the side-netting from close range and a tight angle after running on to a neat pass from Arne Engels. The flag goes up – he was offside.
20 min: Alistair Johnson played a dirty long ball from the back and under pressure from Maeda, Dunfermline centre-back John Tod misread the bounce, taking an air-shot as he tried to clear it into the stand. Maeda continued his run, deftly lobbing the advancing Oxborough to send Celtic supporters into raptures.
GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Dunfermline (Maeda 19)
Celtic lead! Daizen Maeda pounces on a Dunfermline defensive rick and lifts the bouncing ball over the head of advancing Aston Oxborough before wheeling away in celebration.
17 min: An ambitious Tierney shot from distance hits a Dunfermline defender and goes out for a throw-in.
16 min: Yang Hyun-jun lays the ball off to CIaran Tierney, whose cross has far too much welly on it. It’s not the first one the Celtic left-back has overhit today.
15 min: The game reaches something of an impasse after those early moments of drama involving the Celtic penalty shout and Dunfermlkine’s near miss. Neil Lennon will undoubtedly be the happier of the two managers so far.
11 min: That was so, so close for Dunfermline. Alistair Johnson was shepherding a through ball back to Sinisalo, who was slow coming off his line. Morrison nipped beteween the pair of Celtic players to stretch and poke the ball goalwards but didn’t get enough power on his effort. Scales was alert to the danger and had to stretch every sinew to clear the ball off the line.
9 min: Oh my! Celtic are forced to scramble the ball off their own line after Callum Morrison nips between Alistair Johnson and Viljami Sinisalo to poke it towards the empty net. Liam Scales gets back to hack the ball off the line. Dunfermline were millimetres away from taking the lead.
7 min: Daizen Maeda jinks in front of John Tod as the duo chase a ball into the Dunfermline penalty area and goes to ground. His appeals for a penalty fall on deaf ears and replays suggest it ‘s a good call.
5 min: Another long ball towards Maeda, who on this occasion lays it off to Benjamin Nygren before darting towards the Dunfermline penalty area. Celtic win the first corner of the game. Arne Engels’ delivery is punched clear by Dunfermline goalkeeper Aston Oxborough. James Forrest’s follow-up shot is saved by Oxborough.
5 min: Tierney sends the ball long towards Daizen Maeda but the Celtic striker’s touch is poor and he’s unable to hold it up.
4 min: Dunfermline win a free-kick near the halfway line for a Trusty foul on their striker Callum Morrison.
2 min: Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo hoofs the ball upfield, running on to a back-pass from Liam Scales. John Tod advances out of the Dunfermline defence with the ball at his feet, before pinging a diagonal towards Matty Todd on the left flank. His cross is cleared by Auston Trusty.
Celtic v Dunfermline is go …
1 min: Referee Steven McLean blows his whistle and Celtic get the ball rolling. They’re in their customary green and white hoops, while the players of Dunfermline are wearing red shirts, shorts and socks.
Not long now: The teams line up in the Hampden Park tunnel , with managers Martin O’Neill and Neil Lennon, suited, booted and ready to lead them out. A measure of the gulf in size and class of these teams? Dunfermline’s entire annual wage bill is considerably less than half of Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney’s reported salary of £2.6m.
Celtic: In news that may or may not be related to the vacant Celtic head coach position currently occupied by Martin O’Neill in an interim role, Robbie Keane is reported to resigned from his job as manager of the Hungarian Cup winners Ferencvaros yesterday. Hmmm …
Today’s match officials
Neil Lennon: “It’s not [just] a day out for us,” said the 54-year-old Dunfermline head coach in the build-up to the final. “I’ve seen a lot of comments this week about Martin [O’Neill] picking up the trophy with Callum McGregor and [how] if he’d have been here earlier in the season, he would have been winning a treble.
“I wouldn’t dismiss us. We’re the underdogs, but underdogs bite. “We will come – I wouldn’t say brimming full of confidence – but with an inner belief that we can achieve something here. We’re under no illusions as to how difficult that’s going to be.”
On being in the adjacent technical area to Martin O’Neill: “It’ll still be surreal considering how long I’ve known him, what he’s done for my career and what influence he’s had on me,” he said. “I was very, very lucky that I had 10 years of Martin in his pomp. Everyone talks about what he did at Celtic. What he did at Leicester was incredible.
“Obviously getting promotion, and then he had four top-10 finishes in the Premier League and three League Cup finals. He was on a fraction of a budget compared to the rest. If that was a modern-day manager now, he’d be going to Bayern Munich or somewhere like that.”
Route to the final …
Celtic: Auchinleck Talbot, Dundee, Rangers and St Mirren.
Dunfermline: Queen of the South, Hibernian, Kelty Hearts, Aberdeen and Falkirk.
Celtic have won the Scottish Cup 42 times, but lost last year’s final to Aberdeen. Their most recent success was in 2024 under Brendan Rodgers, when Adam Idah’s late strike propelled them to victory over Rangers.
Dunfermline have two Scottish Cup final wins to their name and lost 1-0 against Celtic in their last appearance 19 years ago. Both Dundfermline’s Cup wins came in the swinging sixties: 1961 and 1968.
Martin O’Neill: “The pleasing thing for me if I truly reflect on it, is there is still a place in this game for older gentlemen,” said O’Neill, 74, in an interview with BBC Scotland. “Despite the tactics that are involved now in the game, I do believe someone with some sort of experience can still play a part in proceedings.
“When I first stepped in way back in October, that was my main concern. Not having managed for some time, there are different ways of playing the game. That was my concern, not about destroying anything I might have done 20-odd years ago but being too old to be in this game. That is certainly a great sense of pride for me now.”
Those teams: Martin O’Neill makes one change to the side that beat Hearts last weekend, with James Forrest coming into midfield in place of Sebastian Tounekti, who starts on the bench. The 34-year-old winger could win the Scottish Cup for the ninth time with Celtic this afternoon.
Aston Boxborough starts in goal for Dunfermline, with Billy Terrell among the substitutes following last weekend’s playoff semi-final defeat at the hands of Partick. Swtiching to five at the back, Neil Lennon also hands starts to Andy Tod (who lines up alongside his brother John) and Tashan Oakley-Boothe. In an extremely Tod(d)-heavy line-up, Matty Todd also starts for the Pars.
Celtic v Dunfermline line-ups
Celtic: Sinisalo, Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Engels, Nygren, Yang, Maeda, Forrest
Subs: Doohan, McCowan, Iheanacho, Osmand, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Saracchi, Murray, Tounekti, Ralston
Dunfermline: Oxborough, Chilokoa-Mullen, Ngwenya, Gilmour, M. Todd, Aboulai, A. Todd, J. Tod, Oakley-Boothe, Morrison, Fraser
Subs: Terrell, Benedictus, Hamilton, Rudden, Kearney, Amade, Kane, Cooper, Fyfe.
Early team news
Long-term absentees Kasper Schmeichel and Cameron Carter-Vickers remain sidelined for Celtic, who emerged from last weekend’s dramatic title-decider against Hearts with a clean bill of health.
Dunfermline striker Zak Rudden is available for selection after three months out with a shoulder injury he sustained in an earlier round of the Cup, a Fife derby against Kelty Hearts. Goalkeeper Aston Oxborough has returned on loan from Motherwell after being briefly recalled by his parent club. The Pars are without the Irish duo of Graham Carey and Freddie Turley, while striker Olly Thomas and centre-back Ewan Otoo are also unavailable through injury.
Scottish Cup final: Celtic v Dunfermline Athletic
Master and apprentice will stand in adjacent technical areas this afternoon as Martin O’Neill and Neil Lennon prepare to lead Celtic and Dunfermline out at Hampden Park for the Scottish Cup final. A Championship side whose hopes of promotion ended in playoff semi-final defeat last week, Dunfermline Athletic arrive at Hampden Park hoping to win their first major trophy since 1968. The Scottish Premiership champions pitch up hoping to win their first silverware since this day last week.
Having spent the best part of 10 years of his career as O’Neill midfield lieutenant at Leicester City and Celtic before taking the reins at Celtic Park himself in 2010, Lennon has been in charge of the Pars for 14 months. He has bristled at descriptions of him as O’Neill’s apprentice, pointing out that at 54, he’s a bit old to fit that particular bill but admitted today’s occasion will “be surreal considering how long I’ve known [Martin], what he’s done for my career and what influence he’s had on me”.
Celtic are overwhelming favourties, Dunfermline will be hoping to upset the odds and kick-off in Glasgow is at 3pm (BST). We’ll have team news and build-up and the meantime.
