'I was 73 on Monday, I'm 94 now!', O'Neill jokes after Old Firm victory

Martin O'Neill joked, "I was 73 on Monday, I'm 94 now", after the interim coach guided Celtic to victory over Rangers in the Old Firm derby.

The Hoops were 3-1 winners over their 10-man rivals after extra time at Hampden Park, where the Hoops booked their place in next month's Scottish League Cup final.

O'Neill, who had led Celtic from 2000 to 2005, returned to the club earlier this week on an interim basis following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers.

He saw Johnny Kenny's header cancelled out by a James Tavernier penalty for Rangers, who had Thelo Aasgaard sent off in the first half.

Nevertheless, Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand struck in extra time to set up a final showdown with St. Mirren on December 14.

"I was 73 on Monday, I'm 94 now!" O'Neill told Premier Sports. "I'm delighted to have won the game, for a start. I thought we played splendidly 11 versus 11, then we lost impetus.

"Rangers came into the game, had a good spell when they were actually controlling the game for a while. 

"I shall take no credit whatsoever. We have a couple of young players who probably don't really know what it's all about, and we've got some serial winners in there, and that's really important. The backroom staff were terrific."

On whether he will be in charge of the final, he added: "Maybe ask me that tomorrow. Today, no! There's a fortnight break at the end of next week when I think the club would be making inroads into getting someone in."

Celtic registered 22 shots to Rangers' 12, and their dominance eventually told at Hampden Park, where O'Neill recorded his 17th victory in 28 Glasgow derbies.

"I'm really proud of the players," McGregor said. "It's been a difficult week, a big change. The players stuck together.

"In terms of the anxiety, when you're playing against 10 men, it's never easy. Sometimes, you can tighten up a little bit. Once we got the goal, we settled ourselves again and played.

"We can enjoy this, but we've got a lot of work to be done. We're in another final, and we have to earn the right to play when we get there as well. So, it's not job done by any stretch of the imagination."

"It feels amazing," Osmand said of reaching his first final with the club. "There's no words to describe it. It's going to be the craziest day of my life ever. 

"There's nothing that can really top this, unless scoring against them in the final. This is the best day of my life. Hopefully, this is just the start for me, but obviously, I've got to keep building and pushing on."

Despite the loss, Rangers boss Danny Rohl remained in upbeat spirits regarding his side's performance.

"We showed a lot of spirit and resilience," he told BBC Radio Scotland. "We really thought we could beat them, even with 10 men. We were not sitting back and waiting; we were brave in the second half, and I thought the equaliser was deserved.

"It was important to see the reaction after the red card, and it was outstanding. We have to talk about what we can improve, but there are many positives to take forward."