Celtic Claim Treble in Scotland

Celtic have become the first Scottish side to win successive domestic Trebles after beating Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final.

 The Brendan Rodgers' side took an early lead at Hampden through Callum McGregor's sweetly struck half-volley.

Olivier Ntcham's low shot doubled their advantage in a dominant first half.

Well improved after the break with Curtis Main denied by Craig Gordon and substitute Gael Bigirimana's free-kick coming back off the crossbar.

The Steelmen's wait for a first trophy since their 1991 Scottish Cup final win continues and their defeat means Hibernian, who finished fourth in the Premiership, go into next season's Europa League qualifiers, with Celtic already bound for the Champions League qualifiers.

There was to be no fairytale end to the season for Motherwell

Jock Stein's Celtic team in 1970 and Walter Smith's Rangers side of 1994 came within one game of doing the 'Double Treble' but both fell at the final hurdle.

After beating Aberdeen to all three domestic trophies last term, Rodgers' men set about securing another clean sweep with a 2-0 League Cup final win over Motherwell in November and the clinching of the Premiership title - Celtic's seventh straight top-flight triumph - followed in April.

And they enhance their reputation as the most successful club in the Scottish Cup with their 38th title.

Celtic's record in cup football under Rodgers was already terrific before a ball had been kicked in this final. Seventeen games in the League Cup and Scottish Cup, 17 victories, 58 goals scored and only six conceded. The scale of Motherwell's task in winning the trophy and stopping the Double Treble was vast.

They went into it with some good memories of playing Celtic this season. Stephen Robinson's side drew twice with Rodgers' team and were unlucky not to win one of those. They would have felt confident that they had enough artillery to bother the champions if the champions happened to have a bad day. That's where their dreams perished. The champions did not have a bad day.

Courtesy of the BBC News