Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic take on James Sands and Rangers in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final, with the winner to play either Hearts or Hibernian in the final on May 21st.
Beyond the long history of this classic matchup, this game could go into the history books as the first Old Firm Derby where two Yanks were on the field at the same time.
James Sands was on the Rangers bench for the last two games between these two teams in Scottish Premiership play, while Cameron Carter-Vickers was in the heart of Celtic’s defense in both instances, playing the hero role in the latest edition two weeks ago.
Carter-Vickers will certainly start once again for the Hoops, continuing to raise his stock. Sands is also likely to play in the Cup game this time around, based on his recent uptick in appearances, and a 120-minute slog-fest for most of the starters in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Two weeks ago Celtic won 2-1 over Rangers at Ibrox, a memory that will not sit well in the memory banks of Sands and co. The game winner was scored by Carter-Vickers, who will hope to repeat his heroics with a shot at a(nother) trophy for the Hoops on the line.
“It’s a massive win for us, there are not many games left so every win is important,” Carter-Vickers said in a post-match interview with Sky Sports after netting the winner against their Glasgow rivals.
“All season we’ve shown that character, we keep pushing and that’s what we did today. It was difficult, the fans were all screaming for them and sometimes it takes a while to adjust, but after that we played well.”
This latest rendition of the Old Firm Derby will be on neutral ground at Hampden Park, but will be the fourth time the teams are meeting at this stage in the last six Scottish Cup runs. The 2018 cup run in saw Celtic win 4-0 at home in the Semi-Finals.
All-time in the Scottish FA Cup, Celtic hold 25-17 edge over their crosstown rivals, with the teams drawing on ten occasions. They have also won the trophy 40 times compared to Rangers’ 33 titles.
If you are located in the US, the game will be shown on ESPN+ at 8am CST.
