Aberdeen 1-1 Celtic (aet, 4-3 on pens): Mitov the hero in Scottish Cup triumph

Dimitar Mitov was Aberdeen’s hero as they ended Celtic’s treble hopes with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win in the Scottish Cup final, following a 1-1 draw.

Goalkeeper Mitov made two saves in the shoot-out, denying Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston to send the Dons’ fans into raptures.

Hunting a third domestic trophy of the season, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic went ahead through Alfie Dorrington’s 39th-minute own goal.

Yet Kasper Schmeichel bundled into his own net late in the second half to restore parity.

Daizen Maeda should have won it for Celtic in stoppage time, only to send a tame effort straight at Mitov when one-on-one with the Aberdeen shot-stopper, who spread himself well.

And that miss proved costly as, after extra time, Mitov stood firm in the shoot-out.

@AberdeenFC are your @scottishgas Men’s Scottish Cup winners! #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/nQP40OiGGm

— Scottish Gas Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) May 24, 2025

Data Debrief: Aberdeen’s long wait ends

Aberdeen are Scottish Cup champions for the first time in 35 years. Coincidentally, they also beat Celtic on that occasion, also via penalties.

Celtic may feel hard done by. They dominated for large portions of the match, accumulating 21 shots and 1.88 expected goals (xG), yet they only hit the target with three of those efforts.

Aberdeen generated just five attempts and 0.38 xG, but kept their composure when it counted in the shoot-out, with Ante Palaversa, Oday Dabbagh, Dante Polvara and Graeme Shinnie all on target.