Inverness Caledonian Thistle edge out 10-man Celtic to reach Scottish Cup final

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will meet Falkirk in their first ever Scottish Cup final after they beat 10-man Celtic 3-2 after extra time in a pulsating game at Hampden Park.

The Scottish champions were forced to play most of the contest with a man less after goalkeeper Craig Gordon was sent off early in the second period for bringing down Marley Watkins inside the area.

Nir Bitton nearly broke the deadlock on 13 minutes when he pounced on a loose ball to thunder a shot against the upright from 25 yards out.

Leigh Griffiths brought a save out of Ryan Esson with a powerful strike from range as Ronny Deila's side pushed for the opening goal, before Virgil van Dijk curled home his ninth goal of the campaign to give Celtic the lead with a well-placed free kick.

Edward Ofere spurned Inverness's best chance of the first half when he reacted sluggishly to a rebound inside the area, firing wide from six yards out.

Celtic were left furious when they were denied a penalty after Inverness defender Josh Meekings handled the ball off the line in stoppage time, and a chorus of boos from disgruntled Bhoys' fans greeted the half-time whistle.

Gordon was given his marching orders when he brought down Watkins, who was clean through on goal nine minutes into the second period.

Lukasz Zaluska was brought on for the lively Forrest, but his first piece of action saw Greg Tansey net from 12 yards as Inverness levelled the tie against the 10 men.

A quick break from Graeme Shinnie saw the ball fed wide to Watkins on the edge of the box, and his low effort drifted just wide as Inverness tried to grab the lead after the hour mark.

Shinnie almost profited from some neat build-up play, but Van Dijk did well to thwart the attack inside the area.

Five minutes into extra time, Ofere struck a low effort from the edge of the box to give Inverness the lead.

Celtic substitute John Guidetti made it 2-2 when he curled a free kick into the net, although goalkeeper Esson will be disappointed to have seen the ball bounce over his dive.

Zaluska was lucky to avoid conceding a penalty when he colided with Ofere inside the area, and the Nigerian striker's knockdown fell to Nicholas Ross, who blazed over with the goal at his mercy in the second half of extra time.

David Raven dramatically won it for Inverness when he got on the end of a low cross inside the area to convert with around three minutes of extra time left.