Matt O'Riley has confessed Don Robertson told him he should probably have had a foul in the build-up to Jota's winner but admitted: 'Sometimes you have just got to be grateful'.
The Hoops dumped Rangers at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final to keep their Treble dream alive and end any hopes of silverware for Michael Beale's side. Ange Postecoglou and his troops can confirm the Scottish Premiership title this weekend at Tynecastle while the League Cup is already in the bag. Inverness stand in the way back in Mount Florida on June 3 in a bid to land the one trophy that escaped their grip last season.
The big moment at the national stadium arrived as O'Riley went driving towards the penalty box but was halted by Rangers ace Nicolas Raskin. But whistler Don Robertson - who was a late call to replace injured Willie Collum - didn't blow his whistle for a free-kick and Daizen Maeda was quickest to react as the Light Blues players stopped. His cross to the back post was met by Jota, also alert to the incident, to head beyond Allan McGregor.
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It proved to be the match-winning moment and O'Riley said: “It was definitely a foul, but sometimes you have just got to be grateful! To be fair, I was screaming for it.
“The ref told me it probably was a foul when I walked past him, but he said: If I’d given the foul then you guys wouldn’t have scored. I was like: Yeah, fair enough!
“It was a really good goal, too. We wouldn’t usually cross from that kind of area. We would usually try to work it a bit closer.
“But Daizen saw the opportunity and it was a great ball for the goal.”
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