Photo via Sky Sports

Rangers thump Celtic to reach League Cup semi-finals

Derek McInnes celebrated a memorable first derby in charge of Rangers as his team dismantled Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox to progress to the Scottish League Cup semi-finals. Competing without away fans inside the stadium, the hosts overwhelmed their Glasgow rivals through intense pressing, breaking a seven-game winless cup run against the Hoops.

Stand-in captain Dan Neil opened the scoring after 23 minutes by picking out the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area following interplay with Ryan Naderi and Kevin Kelsy. 2m, then marked his debut in the fixture by converting a second-half volley to double the advantage.

Neil sealed the resounding triumph in the 75th minute with a spectacular strike into the top corner, securing his brace and booking a final-four clash against Aberdeen scheduled for the weekend of October 31 and November 1. Celtic failed to mount any serious response after withstanding a succession of earlier chances from Minsu Kim and Naderi against goalkeeper Johnstone.

The result sets up an enticing penultimate round in the competition, where Hearts will take on Hibernian in the other semi-final tie.