Celtic on the brink of an historic domestic treble and period of unprecedented dominance

An assured 2-0 triumph over Rangers in the last four of the William Hill Scottish Cup at Hampden yesterday afternoon has set up a final meeting with Aberdeen at the same venue at the end of next month.

There is certainly no absolute guarantee that Derek McInnes’s side, the second best in the country for the third season running, will be overcome. Brendan Rodgers’s team will have to perform as well they did against their city rivals, possibly even better, to complete a rare clean sweep of trophies.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers: My Celtic side were brilliant in semi-final triumph over Rangers - but we can perform better

It would be a huge shock, though, if Celtic, undefeated in all 41 of their domestic fixtures to date in the 2016/17 campaign, stumble and fall at the final hurdle and fail to emulate their feats of 1967, 1969 and 2001.

Yet, could the Parkhead club also be poised to savour a period of dominance unrivalled, to use the slogan of the tournament sponsors, by any of their predecessors, or by any other club for that matter, in the annals of Scottish football?

On the evidence of another one-sided encounter with the team who traditionally have provided their stiffest opposition and who should by rights still be their main rivals again due to the size of their budget it is entirely possible.

Rangers had given their supporters hope they could triumph here and avenge their painful final loss against Hibernian last season with a rousing display and a 1-1 draw in a Ladbrokes Premiership game at Celtic Park last month.

But normal service was very much restored by a side which had won, and won comfortably, the first three meetings of the season with their opponents.

Yes, Clint Hill and Lee Wallace, both hugely experienced and influential players for their team, were unavailable for Rangers due to injury. But would having the centre half and left back in the starting line-up really have made much of a difference? It is highly doubtful.

David Bates and Myles Beerman, his rash challenges on Patrick Roberts aside, gave decent accounts of themselves despite being 20 and just 18 respectively. Nobody could single the young debutants out blame. No, this game was won and lost further up the park.

Pedro Caixinha, the new Rangers manager, was under intense scrutiny in his first Old Firm game. But his team selection, game plan and tactics ultimately proved irrelevant. There is precious little your team can do if they are starved of possession to such an extraordinary degree. They had no answer to the pinpoint passing and perpetual movement of their adversaries.

Read more: Top scorer Moussa Dembele a serious doubt for treble-chasing Celtic in Scottish Cup final

Celtic deservedly took the lead in the 11th minute with an exquisite move. Moussa Dembele controlled a long punt upfield from Mikael Lustig beautifully and laid the ball back for his team mate Callum McGregor. The young Scottish midfielder displayed admirable composure to place a low shot beyond the helpless Wes Foderingham and into the bottom left corner of goal.

Rangers failed to get a shot on target in the first half. A speculative Kenny Miller that arched high over the crossbar was the sum total of their attacking endeavours in a 45 minutes of football their followers will try hard to forget.

Caixinha realised that changes had to be made if his side was to gain a foothold in the match and removed both Joe Garner and Andy Halliday at half-time and brought on Joe Dodoo and Barrie McKay. His side started the second half brightly as a result. But they were caught on the counter attack and fell further behind in the 51st minute.

Roberts released Leigh Griffiths into the Rangers area and he was brought down by James Tavernier. Scott Sinclair accepted responsibility for the spot kick and duly put his team further with his 24th strike of the season.

The seven minute spell that Celtic spent with just 10 men on the park midway through the first half – after Dembele had hobbled off with the hamstring injury he had suffered winning a corner kick and before Griffiths had replaced him – highlighted their superiority.

Could Rangers capitalise on their numerical advantage during that time? Could they hell. Indeed, Craig Gordon was completely untroubled until well into the second half. He made his first save, too, when his side had edged two in front and had stopped pushing forward with the same sort of intensity.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers: My Celtic side were brilliant in semi-final triumph over Rangers - but we can perform better

The Scotland keeper dealt well with a glancing Miller header in the 62nd minute, blocked a shot by the striker with his legs in the 79th minute and then palmed a long-range effort by Dodoo wide in injury-time. But at no stage did he look like conceding.

His opposite number Foderingham was by far the busier of the two keepers. He could do little about the brilliantly conceived opening goal and did well to at least palm the penalty by Sinclair onto his post. He also denied Griffiths and Roberts after that.

The fact that Rodgers was able to bring on Griffiths, James Forrest and Tom Rogic, who struck the woodwork with a curling shot from outside the Rangers box, underlined the strength in depth which he has at his disposal. The Irishman will, too, seek to add to his squad in the summer.

Celtic supporters chant about “10-in-a-row”– a run of consecutive Scottish titles triumphs which would pip the nine straight triumphs they enjoyed in the 1960s and 1970s and Rangers replicated in the 1990s - at every match.

A lot can happen in the course of a season. Indeed, it was 12 months ago that Mark Warburton was being lavished with praise for masterminding a spectacular Scottish Cup semi-final win over an outfit managed by Ronny Deila.

But with Rodgers committing himself to a long-term contract and Caixinha not having anywhere near the level of backing it is very hard to see them being deposed any time soon.