Balde brace sets up Old Firm final

Two goals by Bobo Balde and one from the prolific Henrik Larsson were more than enough to beat the Tannadice Park club, who had Jim Lauchlan sent off for a late tackle in the second half.

The Bhoys had plenty of possession on a wet and heavy Hampden Park pitch in the opening half but lacked any real cutting edge, with Larsson going closest to scoring with a low shot straight at Terrors' goalkeeper Alan Combe.

Ian McCall's troops did show some fighting spirit in the opening period, with Derek Lilley forcing the Celtic defence to scramble his half chance away to safety, as both sides went into the break at 0-0.

But it was the second half that proved telling as Martin O'Neill's men started to put some attacks together.

Seven minutes in, a John Hartson through ball to Larsson at the edge of Dundee United's box saw him push the ball by an on-coming Combe and Balde slammed home his shot into an open net to make it 1-0.

Things were made worse for The Terrors as Lauchlan was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Larsson in the middle of the pitch, a decision that on a second look might have been a bit harsh.

With Dundee United a man short, Celtic had more chances to score as Scotland call-up Jamie Smith hit the post with a shot.

Larsson was then denied a goal when his rebound strike was ruled out after Chris Sutton was adjudged to be in an offside position after heading the ball off the bar.

But the Swede would not be denied with ten minutes to go as his turn and shot from Sutton's square ball in the box beat Combe to make it 2-0.

The Parkhead club's dominance was capped as Balde got his second with a header from an Alan Thompson corner in injury time to set up an Old Firm final against Rangers on March 16.

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