It could take everyone connected to Celtic – players, staff and supporters – a little while to process everything that happened in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday.
Finding themselves behind in the match against Aberdeen, then ahead twice only to be pegged back, before winning a dramatic penalty shoot-out – Celtic’s big day was a brilliant spectacle. But it wasn’t half nerve-wracking.
Celtic were far from at their best but still got the job done and it was a thrilling watch, ultimately. The passion and excitement of Scottish football is hard to beat when it all gets so epic.
Brendan Rodgers was understandably delighted in the aftermath. Yes, there are issues to address ahead of an upcoming six-game gauntlet – most notably in defence – but he was very proud of his players.
He had special praise for one of them – James Forrest – who came into the game as a second-half substitute and made an instant impact with a sweeping goal from distance that gave Kelle Roos no chance.
Brendan Rodgers talks up James Forrest’s quality
Speaking in a post-match media conference, Rodgers said [Celtic Way]: “He was absolutely brilliant, he changed the game for us. It was just his composure and his quality. We started to keep the ball in the final third, he got the goal.
“He’s just a big-game player with big-game experience. Another big plus was that when we took Callum off, Jamesie gave us another experienced head out there. I wanted to bring someone on with calmness and authority and James had that.
“He’s shown recently what a big part he has to play in the final part of the season, especially with Daizen Maeda being out for us.”
Forrest has scored in an incredible 15 consecutive seasons for Celtic and is already one of the club’s most decorated players in history.
He now has the chance to add a further two winners’ medals to his collection. From what Rodgers has to say, he’s set to get plenty of minutes over the next run of matches – even if it’s only off the bench.
There’s little doubt Forrest is not at his peak anymore but, as shown today, he still has the ability to punish opponents. That shouldn’t be taken for granted when every goal will be crucial between now and the end of May.