Rangers win the battle of the benches to flatten Celtic as freakish John Lundstram defies belief – Keith Jackson

It may go down in history as the first Old Firm derby to be won and lost from the substitutes’ bench.

But on a day when energy levels were being stretched to the limit of exhaustion – and maybe even beyond – the kitchen sink that Giovanni van Bronckhorst was able to throw onto the pitch at Hampden amounted to much more than Celtic were able to cope with.

In Scott Wright, Scott Arfield, Steven Davis, Glen Kamara, Leon Balogun and Fashion Sakala, the Dutchman was able to refill the tank just when it seemed impossible for Rangers to keep on moving after the marathon they put themselves through against Braga on Thursday night.

The fact of the matter is, while all six of them made huge contributions to a Scottish Cup classic, too many of Celtic’s players forgot to turn up for their work.

Ange Postecoglou also made six changes to his starting line-up over the course of 120 minutes of a compelling, pulsating semi final.

But although Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley, Tony Ralston, James Forrest, Stephen Welsh and David Turnbull were all given a chance to make an impact, none of them managed to lift the level of what was a flat and uninspired Celtic performance.

Yes, it did look at one point during the second half as though Celtic might win this one even despite their own sloppiness.

How they made it to half-time with Joe Hart’s goal still intact was something of a mystery, given that Rangers had spent the first 45 minutes playing them off the pitch.

In fact, in the opening seconds James Tavernier set the tone for the match when he almost effortlessly muscled Jota off the ball down near his own corner flag and from that moment, Rangers were sharper, stronger and hungrier in just about every area of the park.

This must surely