article_snippet.sent: might have been thinking about for Hampden, all things being equal; leaving Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, both suspended for the semi-final, on the bench
article_snippet.sent: suggested that he was giving he Cup formation a gentle run out.
article_snippet.sent: James Forrest looked the most obvious outlet for a Celtic breakthrough, the winger scampering down the left and finding space where none should have existed, though too often making the wrong call.
article_snippet.sent: The former Scotland regular might have scored James Forrest with seven minutes on the clock, tearing into the box and receiving an Emilio Izaguirre pass at pace, yet Forrest’s first touch was half an ounce heavy – allowing young Killie captain Lee Ashcroft to make a vital block on James Forrest shot.
article_snippet.sent: Virgil van Dijk loping forward from central defence caused a few stirs of excitement, Stefan Johansen’s running beyond lone striker John Guidetti promised at least a possibility or two.
article_snippet.sent: Home skipper Scott Brown should have done a great deal better with an Izaguirre cut-back on the half-hour mark, failing to connect cleanly with the bouncing ball and watching the bouncing ball balloon high and wide of the target.
article_snippet.sent: Well, Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk came fairly close with a flashing header from a Commons corner.
article_snippet.sent: Sure, the midfielder’s shot took the kind of deflection for which there is no accounting, smacking Jason Denayer and spinning beyond a helpless Craig Gordon.
article_snippet.sent: Step forward the captain, who pounced to nick the ball off the toe of Sammy Clingan – prompting immediately complaints of a dangerous challenge.
article_snippet.sent: As substitutions go, not one of Deila’s worst.
article_snippet.sent: None better than the 25-yarder that Griffiths sent screaming past Craig Samson with 10 minutes remaining, the ball cannoning in off the keeper
article_snippet.sent: When Craig Samson was put through behind the defence four minutes later, there was never any doubt about what would happen, the striker finishing low and hard past a shell-shocked Samson.