That the whistle blew dead on the 90-minute mark at Hampden told its own story.

It could have gone ten minutes into this encounter such was the one-sided nature of what passed as a contest.

The stats will tell a story of goals from Tom Rogic, Callum McGregor and a penalty apiece from the excellent Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham but it won't tell of just how lopsided this game was as Celtic eased their way past Rangers barely breaking sweat in the process.

The game had barely past the half-hour mark when the first real lusty roar from the Rangers fans arrived. To great acclaim, Graham Dorrans banjoed Ntcham as the French midfielder readied himself to go for a high ball. There was an argument to suggest it was the closest any Rangers player got to touching anything in the green and white this afternoon at Hampden.

Even before Rogic had bent the opening goal beyond the reach of Wes Foderingham there was a feeling that a dominant Celtic were in the mood to torment.

There was an effortlessness about the manner in which Brendan Rodgers’s side dispatched their rivals to stroll towards the Scottish Cup final.

In what was almost an entirely one-sided afternoon, there was little of note that Rangers could draw comfort from. When the dust settles on this sobering afternoon for the Ibrox side there will be a realisation of the yawning gulf that continues to stretch between the two sides.

By the time this game had eased its way to the interval, Rangers were in disarray from back to front. McGregor’s second – after a horrible mistake from Scotland defender Russell Martin had effectively teed him up – was the signal that the floodgates could open.

Andy Halliday, anonymous but by no means alone, was hooked before the interval with the midfielder embroiled in an angry spat with an Ibrox punter. It was symptomatic of the dishevelled nature of the performance with Rangers toiling to compose themselves as Celtic took control of the game and effectively hemmed them into their own half for the duration of the opening half.

By the time the game restarted and Ross McRorie was dismissed for hauling at the effervescent Dembele, Celtic were freewheeling their way into the Scottish Cup final.

The penalty was Rangers’ afternoon in microcosm; McRorie had steadied himself latterly in the opening period but by and large was run ragged by an in-the-mood Dembele.

The French under-21 internationalist duly converted from the spot with an insouciant chip and ten-man Rangers were left looking at another demoralising defeat.

In fairness to the Ibrox side they tried to rally themselves. Craig Gordon pulled off a fine acrobatic save to deny Alfredo Morelos with a header and was then equal to a second attempt from the subsequent corner.

Brown and the Rangers striker tangled shortly after that when the Celtic captain took objection to a challenge on Kieran Tierney, with both players going into the book.

General service, however, did not take long to resume as Celtic continued to turn the screw.

Celtic introduced Scott Sinclair and Patrick Roberts for the bench with the latter’s jinking run into the box drawing a foul from Jason Holt.

The second spot kick was converted with a low drive into the bottom right-hand corner by Ntcham as Celtic streamrolled their way into the final.

The Parkhead side are now just one game away from an historic double Treble.