CELTIC are one game away from sealing the Treble after a dominant win over Rangers in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

A strike from Callum McGregor and a Scott Sinclair penalty either side of the break secured a comfortable victory for the Hoops against a Gers side that rarely threatened to end their rivals’ unbeaten domestic run.

Brendan Rodgers’ side now need to beat Aberdeen at the national stadium next month to secure the fourth Treble in their history after Pedro Caixinha failed to stop a poor run of results for the Ibrox side in this fixture in his Old Firm debut.

Celtic started with intent, putting their rivals under pressure from the first whistle. Caixinha’s side were given a warning within two minutes when a corner found Dembele completely unmarked, but the Frenchman could only head wide.

Within a minute the Hoops were moving forward again, playing advantage after a reckless challenge from Andy Halliday on Patrick Roberts earned the midfielder the game’s first yellow card. Celtic continued regardless, with McGregor cutting inside and shooting into Wes Foderingham’s arms.

Stuart Armstrong then curled a trademark effort from outside the box just wide, but the Bhoys’ early pressure eventually paid off.

After 11 minutes a long ball forward found Dembele, who plucked it out of the air beautifully before laying off to the onrushing McGregor. The midfielder made no mistake from just outside the box, arrowing a low finish into the bottom corner.

Celtic’s first half pressure continued as they camped out in the Rangers half, but Brendan Rodgers’ side were dealt a blow just before the half-hour mark when Dembele pulled up with a hamstring injury and needed to be replaced by Leigh Griffiths.

It took Rangers 40 minutes to muster their first effort on goal as Kenny Miller’s wayward volley sailed harmlessly over the bar from range, summing up a lacklustre first half performance from the Light Blues.

Caixinha looked to his bench for a response at the break, throwing on Joe Dodoo and Barrie McKay for Halliday and the ineffective Joe Garner.

The Gers pushed further up at the start of the second half as they looked for a way back into the game, but were almost instantly punished. Patrick Roberts hared down the wing on the counter attack and slipped a pass through to Griffiths. The Scotland striker advanced into the box and was brought down by James Tavernier for a penalty kick which was duly converted by Scott Sinclair, his 24th strike of the season.

Celtic’s pressure didn’t let up and two minutes later they were almost three up, when Griffiths superbly cushioned a high ball over the top and fired a volley at goal, but he was denied by a flying save from Foderingham. The creaking Rangers defence was again breached five minutes later when Roberts played a one-two with Griffiths before seeing his low shot denied by a smart reaction save from the Gers keeper.

Rangers slowly began to create and Miller got a rare sight of goal when he met a Tavernier cross with just under half an hour to go, but Craig Gordon got down well to block the veteran’s header.

The 37-year-old then saw his lobbed effort hit the top of the net before his side’s best opportunity arrived soon after. The ball fell to Miller in the penalty box and he cut onto his left foot to have a clear sight of goal from 12 yards out, but the veteran’s finish was blocked by the foot of Gordon.

Martyn Waghorn headed over at the back post as time ran out for Rangers, but it was Celtic who finished on the stronger foot as Tom Rogic lashed an effort from range off the post.