Virgil van Dijk joined his Celtic captain, Scott Brown, in rubbing a large handful of salt into Rangers' wounds by branding their side's 2-0 League Cup semi-final victory as "easy" and writing the Ibrox club off as "predictable".

 

Brown joked that the goalkeeper of the SPFL Premiership champions, Craig Gordon, who did not have a save to make throughout the 90 minutes, only started challenging for crosses during the second half because he was so bored.

The victory, which booked the champions a final date with Dundee United on March 15, was secured through goals from Leigh Griffiths - who later insisted he didn't intend to goad Rangers fans when he celebrated in front of them - and Kris Commons in the opening period. It must surely go down as one of the most straightforward Old Firm encounters in history.

Rangers threw on Jon Daly for Fraser Aird at half-time in an attempt to turn the tide, but van Dijk insisted afterwards that their tactics from start to finish were meat and drink for the Celtic defence.

"It was an easy game, to be honest," said van Dijk. "You know at half-time that they are going to throw things in the box with a big striker coming on, but we dealt with it well. We had no chances against us.

"I thought about the game over the last few days a lot. I thought if they started with a tall striker, they would try to hit him, but they started instead with (Kenny) Miller and I knew they would sit back and try to hit us on the break.

"It was quite predictable and we dealt with it, especially in the first half. It wasn't that easy, but it was maybe the easiest Old Firm game you have experienced."

Celtic opened very much on the front foot with Griffiths scoring after just 10 minutes and Brown believes that set the template for a wholly one-sided afternoon.

"I felt we were in control of the game from start to finish," he stated. "They didn't bother Craigy (Gordon) at all. He came out and caught a few crosses just because he was getting bored, to be perfectly honest.

"He's gone through 90 minutes and not made a serious save. That tells you how much we dominated it - especially on that pitch, which couldn't have worked out more for Rangers. We've got to be pleased."

Brown also agreed with van Dijk's assessment of the ineffective nature of Rangers' tactical approach and revealed that the move to bring on Daly at the break had been anticipated in the Celtic dressing-room.

"The first half, it was really comfortable," said Brown. "We knew as soon as we were 2-0 up, we knew Jon Daly was going up front. We'd already planned for that at half-time, so we were a step ahead of them there.

"We just knew they were going to go front to back, but we knew we had Virgil, Jason Denayer and Mikael Lustig and we were winning everything."

Brown also labelled the Hampden Park pitch, recently relaid in the wake of the stadium's role as the track and field venue at the Commonwealth Games, as the worst he has ever played on.

The midfielder insists the SPFL must make sure it is not in the same condition when Celtic return for the final against Dundee United on March 15.

"It's as bad a surface as I've played on," he exclaimed. "Shocking. As soon as you step on it, your foot slips into the ground.

"For a National Stadium, it's not really good is it? The biggest thing is that someone could easily have got injured. You saw Kenny Miler going down on the right hand side early in the first half. He went to cross the ball and could easily have done his cruciate on it.

"If that happens, they'd be questioning it. They should be questioning it before the final. We were trying to pass the ball, but it was bobbling about and skipping, which made it hard for us. We managed to battle as well, which showed you what a good team we are becoming."

Celtic could easily have won by more. With the scoreline already 2-0 on 35 minutes, Brown played a pass that left Griffiths straight through on the Rangers goalkeeper, Steve Simonsen, and was furious when the referee, Craig Thomson, awarded a free-kick for a challenge on him from Ian Black.

"Griff would have been one-on-one with the goalie, but, somehow, it was brought back for a foul," said Brown. "I didn't understand that. It was the first through ball I've ever played in my career and he blew for a foul.

"It seemed a clear advantage to me. We were quite surprised when he pulled it back. The rule is that you are allowed advantage, but he blew his whistle a bit too early for my liking."

Brown also insists that Celtic did not settle for the two-goal victory during the second period and wanted to win more comfortably.

"We did attempt to get more," said Brown. "We had Griff going through a few times and we might have had a free-kick as well. We created chances. We're happy with the result and the way we played - especially on that surface.

"We've got top players here, guys like Virgil at the back, who strolled it, and Jason Denayer playing alongside him. All the boys who hadn't played in this game before still know what a big club this is."

Griffiths was booked for his goal celebrations, cupping his ears in front of the Rangers support, but insists his behaviour should not be regarded as inflammatory.

"I asked him (the referee) why I was booked," he said. "I didn't really go over and antagonise them. I just went over and celebrated. I wasn't running 60 yards to go and celebrate with the Celtic fans.

"After it, I had to go and see the manager and congratulate him for repaying me by letting me start the game. It just kind of settled me down a bit.

"I enjoyed the goal. It is not very often you get the chance to start in an Old Firm game and put a header away. I have been here before in semi-finals and this was third time lucky.

"My first goal against Hearts was special, but it doesn't really get any bigger than scoring at Hampden Park in a full stadium against them."