Football can be a cruel game and Rangers can feel very hard done by after a quite remarkable Scottish League Cup final.

Steven Gerrard's side were on top for long spells but just couldn't get the job done. Fraser Forster was inspired between the sticks for Celtic and the normally deadly Alfredo Morelos had a day to forget in front of goal.

Then we had a winning goal that was scored from an offside position, just to rub it in.

Celtic didn't really get started as the rain lashed down but they toughed it out after going down to 10 men and Odsonne Edouard, short of match fitness, gave them a lift from the bench.

The bottom line is Celtic have a 10th successive trophy in the bag and their winning cup run extends to an amazing 31 games.

Congratulations to Celtic and thanks for your company today.

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On the penalty miss from Alfredo Morelos, Rangers boss Steven Gerrard said: "Alfredo was the nominated penalty taker. It was a very, very big moment in the game with the red card. If you score the penalty with the man advantage there's a big chunk of the game left.

"But if you look at the game over the 90 minutes we were superior. It always seemed as though the action was where we wanted it to be but that doesn't win you football matches, you need to take your chances, you need to score the penalty. Those were the big moments that we didn't execute today."

On Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster, Gerrard adds: "He's had one of the best games of his career today, unfortunately for us, we've got to give credit where it's due."

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is pleased with his side's performance, but rues a series of missed chances and a slack moment in defence.

"It's still very raw but I can't really ask any more from my players in terms of the performance," he told BT Sport. "I thought we were really good, we performed well. But we got one big moment wrong. We never defended a set-piece. Now, there's a good possibility two or three of them are offside but we've still got to defend it better."

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You can catch brief highlights of today's thrilling cup final as well as Saturday's Premiership action on Sportscene later on.

Tune into BBC Scotland at 19:15 GMT.

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard confirms that Alfredo Morelos was on penalty duty today, quashing suggestions that captain James Tavernier had relinquished responsibility on the pitch.

More from the Ibrox boss in just a moment.

We don't have too long to wait for the next instalment of Old Firm drama.

Celtic are the hosts for the second league meeting of the season on 29 December before we go into a winter break.

We have four more Premiership rounds before that festive fixture, with the champions currently two points ahead at the top.

Fraser Forster is just shy of a nine out of 10 after his heroics for Celtic.

Tough crowd...

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"Alfredo Morelos will not sleep tonight," says BBC Sportsound pundit Neil McCann.

The Rangers striker was thwarted by Fraser Forster time and time again and had two efforts that whizzed narrowly wide. He had the ideal opportunity to break his Old Firm duck with a penalty but his spot-kick was poorly executed, making it 11 games against Celtic without a goal.

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon tells BBC Scotland: "You fear the worst at 10 men anyway, there's 25 minutes still to go. Mikey's [Johnston] got a great chance to wrap it up. We actually played better with 10 men at times.

"It's been a tumultuous run of games, we've come through it. It's 12 wins in a row. Yes, we were fortunate today, I'll admit that, but that's what happens in cup finals. We need that resilience and quality to get over the line. I thought Kristoffer Ajer was unbelievable, so was Jeremie Frimpong until the sending off.

"I didn't even celebrate it [the goal]. I was too wrapped up in how we were playing and how we were going to get a proper foothold in the game.

"We are talking 10 major trophies now in a row. We don't want to give anything up. We weren't great today but we still won and that's what cup football is all about."

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon tells BBC Scotland: "Fraser Forster was outstanding. He made some unbelievable saves, world class saves.

"We didn't get going in the first half, second half we were better. The introduction of Odsonne [Edouard] gave us a real spark. The mentality of the team is amazing. They've won 10 in a row - I don't know how they do it.

"You've got to give credit to Rangers today they played great and made the cup final what it was.

"This team just does't know when it's beaten - they still dig it out and dig it out. They're amazing."

Scott Brown holds aloft the League Cup, Celtic's 10th domestic trophy in a row.

Is any other Scottish captain going to get a look in?

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Was Fraser Forster your top man? You still have time to vote.

PLAYER RATER

Manager Steven Gerrard will need to console a lot of devastated players inside the Rangers dressing room.

The Ibrox side will look back on this day with anguish since they passed up a lot of fantastic chances and had Celtic on the ropes for much of the game.

They don't have time to feel sorry for themselves though since there is a huge Europa League tie against Young Boys coming up on Thursday.

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Inspired Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster tells BBC Scotland: "As long as you win, that's all that matters. We really had to fight and grind it out.

"It was just one of them days, it went my way today. I'm buzzing. There's been days when it's not gone my way, today it has. I can't say how much it means to me.

"I didn't really think about the penalty to be honest. I picked the way it went. I'll take it.

"That's why I came back; to play in games like this, to win silverware, to play European football."

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The Scottish League Cup is raised aloft by Scott Brown and his team-mates.

Is this the first step towards a quadruple treble? It's 10 trophies in a row for Celtic.

A huge cheer for Fraser Forster, who brings up the rear then passes the cup on to sodden manager Neil Lennon.

Here comes triumphant captain Scott Brown... This is a familiar journey for the midfielder.

The gutted Rangers players make their way up the Hampden steps to collect their runners-up medals, while the Celtic players laugh and joke on the pitch, waiting their turn.

Celtic match winner Christopher Jullien tells BBC Scotland: "I have to congratulate all the team. We just did a job, it was amazing. It shows the strength of the team.

"For me, it's a beautiful day. It's the first time I have won a trophy.

"It was really difficult. We just fought all the way. It's just unbelievable."

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon is in front of goalkeeper Fraser Forster doing the 'we're not worthy' sign.

The big keeper certainly earned his win bonus today.