Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk admits he feared his cup final dream had been wrecked by last week 's red card at Tannadice . The Dutchman was sent-off during the Hoops ' William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final draw with Dundee United following an off-the-ball spat with the Taysider 's Calum Butcher . Referee Craig Thompson sent-off Van Dijk before making a major gaffe when he wrongly dismissed Butcher 's Terrors team-mate Paul Paton . Virgil van Dijk ( 2nd left ) goes up for a header during Celtic 's 2-0 Scottish League Cup final win . Hoops boss Ronny Deila celebrates winning his first piece of silverware since arriving at Parkhead . That left both men sweating on their places for Sunday 's QTS Scottish League Cup showdown at Hampden . But there was relief for Van Dijk and Paton as they were later cleared to play after successful appeals to the Scottish Football Association 's disciplinary panel . And it was the Celtic centre-half who was left bearing the brightest grin as his side clinched Ronny Deila 's first trophy as Parkhead boss with a 2-0 win at the National Stadium . Van Dijk said : 'It was quite a tough week . I 've never experienced anything like it in my life . 'It would have been very disappointing if I 'd not been allowed to play on Sunday , especially with it being my first final ever . 'But you know , justice was served and I was able to play . Luckily I got the red card overturned and we did a good job . ' The Dutch defender was sent off for a clash with Callum Butcher in Scottish Cup quarter finals . Van Dijk is sent off but was later cleared to play on Sunday following a successful appeal . Dundee United 's Paul Paton also had his red card rescinded after being wrongly sent off . Van Dijk has been linked with summer moves to south , with Barclays Premier League high-flyers Arsenal and Southampton monitoring his progress . But for now the 23-year-old is happy to enjoy Celtic 's treble chase . 'It means a lot to have lifted the League Cup , ' he said . 'It 's my first cup trophy ever . 'This club is an amazing place , I have always said that . I have been improving since the day came here . 'That is the most important thing for a player . If you win trophies , that 's even better . ' Kris Commons fired Celtic ahead midway through the first half before substitute James Forrest stroked home a second 12 minutes from time . The Hoops winger also had time to miss a late penalty as a United side that spent the last 35 minutes a man down following skipper Sean Dillon 's red card avoided a heavier defeat . However , Jackie McNamara 's team will go for revenge when the sides meet for part three of their four-game duel with Wednesday 's Scottish Cup replay . Van Dijk said : 'We made it tough for ourselves on Sunday and should have finished the game faster in the second half . James Forrest celebrates scoring Celtic 's second goal before missing a late penalty at Hampden . Scorer of Celtic 's first goal , Kris Commons , celebrates with the trophy following Celtic 's win . 'One-nil is a dangerous score - if they had scored one goal they would have had the believe to hit us with everything . 'At moments it looked tough but Craig Gordon only had one save to make in the first half and nothing in the second half , so I think we did well . 'It 's a big boost for us ahead of Wednesday night . We can go for the second cup now full of confidence . 'They will be up for it on Wednesday night and know they have possibilities with the players coming back in to their team . 'But we need to be ready and win the game . '
Celtic defeated Dundee United 2-0 in Scottish League Cup final on Sunday . Virgil van Dyke was sweating on his place after being shown red card in Scottish Cup quarter final at Tannadice . Hoops defender and Paul Paton were cleared to play following appeal .