Scottish League Cup: Ross County 3-1 Celtic

Ross County made it to their second major final

Ross County created a massive upset by beating 10-man Celtic in a frenetic League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

Gary Mackay-Steven scored after only 26 seconds to give Celtic the lead, but the turning point came when Efe Ambrose was sent off for fouling County's Alex Schalk in the box.

Martin Woods scored from the penalty, Paul Quinn headed a second after the break and Schalk hammered in the third.

Scott Fox saved Leigh Griffiths' penalty to secure a place in the final.

County seized the day once Ambrose departed and deserved what was a momentous victory for the club.

This time last year, they were rock bottom of the Premiership, six points adrift. Now they are sitting fourth in the league and in the League Cup final for the first time in their existence, where they will face Hibernian on 13 March.

All this came despite County looking a shambles in the early minutes. Celtic were ahead in the blink of an eye.

Callum McGregor played a ball through the giant chasm between County's centre-halves and in motored Griffiths, who ran on freely before squaring to Mackay-Steven.

That goal could have been followed by others. Griffiths had the County defence tied in knots in the minutes that followed.

Ambrose twice went close with headers, the second of them kicked off the line by Richard Foster. It was so easy for Celtic and then, in a sudden twist, it became impossibly hard.

In that fateful moment, Mikael Lustig allowed Schalk to get away from him and on to a loose ball in the Celtic penalty area. Ambrose was slow to appreciate the danger and, in his attempt to recover his ground, his knee came into contact with Schalk, who went over.

It was a penalty and it was a red card for Ambrose. Storm Efe had done its damage again and Woods sent Craig Gordon the wrong way from the spot.

Celtic, to their credit, had the best of the rest of the half. They brought on their new recruit, Erik Sviatchenko, for the unlucky McGregor, to plug the Ambrose gap and create some trouble for County.

Stuart Armstrong and Lustig had half-chances but could not capitalise. When the next opportunity fell to County, they were infinitely more ruthless.

McIntyre's team went at Celtic and got their reward. From a corner that carried to the back post, Andrew Davies nodded precisely to Quinn, who buried his own header past Gordon.

The goalkeeper complained bitterly that he had been impeded as the delivery came into the box - he was booked for his trouble - but he would have been better off castigating his defenders, who allowed two free headers so close to his goal.

Efe Ambrose (right) was red carded for clipping Alex Schalk in the box

Celtic's misery - and vulnerability - was seen again just after the hour, when Woods played Schalk through on goal and the Dutch Under-21 striker thumped his finish into the top corner.

Again, Celtic's defence was a soft touch, easy prey to a simple pass through its heart.

Even when Celtic got a very fortunate penalty, given against Brian Graham for handball, Griffiths - of all people - could not convert. Indeed, Celtic had to rely on Gordon making a fine save from Jackson Irvine to avoid a fourth.

It hardly mattered. County created history none the less. For Ronnie Deila's Celtic, this was a catastrophic day and an abrupt end to their treble dream.

For Jim McIntyre and his players, a day of days.