Celtic star Auston Trusty has been criticised after what he did vs Rangers

Celtic booked their place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals on Sunday with a rare cup victory away at Ibrox, as Rangers were defeated on penalties.

The second Old Firm clash in the space of a week remained goalless throughout a tense encounter and was decided through spot-kicks, as the Hoops came out 4-2 victors ahead of some unsavoury scenes at the final whistle as fans of both sides came onto the pitch and things threatened to descend into chaos.

While the full-time scenes will be what the day is remembered for, the match was as entertaining a spectacle as ever. Rangers threw everything at their visitors with 24 shots to just one over the 120 minutes, while both sides had goals disallowed for offside and handball respectively.

Celtic star Auston Trusty has come under criticism from ex-referee chief Keith Hackett after the Buoys defender went down under minimal contact from Youssef Chermiti just before the hour mark. The former was accused of playacting as he writhed in pain and caused a flashpoint which was dealt with admirably by referee Don Robertson.

Ex-referee launches tirade on Trusty after ‘unacceptable’ incident

Ex-referee Hackett told Football Insider: “It’s cheating. It’s an action that nobody wants to see: a player going down to get an opponent sent off. It’s unacceptable.

“It’s excellent refereeing from Robertson, getting straight in at the beginning of a mass confrontation, with the assistant helping. There’s no overreaction. But these are the things happening in football that are frankly disgraceful. Let’s have a degree of respect for other players. No football fan wants to see this level of nonsense.

“In fairness to the player accused, he didn’t overreact. Some suddenly think that, if you think I’ve hit you, have one for real.”

Martin O’Neill reflects on fan clashes at full-time

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill, meanwhile, reflected at full-time on the scenes on the pitch between the two sets of supporters at the final whistle, where flares were launched in either direction as tension escalated.

O’Neill said: "We have no idea what might happen. I think today, with the crowd and our crowd there, to me, it was a proper Old Firm game in that sense. We will see what develops. It’s a big derby game, and I think there was a lot of jubilation at us winning. The fans spilt over, and I suppose it is very difficult to quell that.

“As we were making our way back, there was some kind of fracas, and someone had tried to get on the field. It’s unfortunate [scenes at the end] but hopefully it doesn’t dilute the performance in terms of character.

"As you say, maybe it does taint proceedings but I think there was an element of self-protection in that one. I am making judgements on things I only half saw. From my viewpoint, it was a great win for us. Rangers are very strong and had the full week to go at it."