It was always going to be Ryan Christie, wasn’t it?

This tournament has been the birth of Christie as a Celtic player. From his arrival onto the turf at Murrayfield as Brendan Rodgers’ side dispatched Hearts in the semi-final, Christie has not looked back.

It was his goal just before the interval in what was a stodgy game at Hampden that proved to be the difference between the teams but it was Christie’s performance overall that gave Celtic impetus on a day when they never quite managed to kill the game off.

As he slid across on his knees in celebration of the goal that proved to be the only one of the match there was a feeling that he deserves his moment in the sun.

Christie has had to be patient in waiting for his chance at Celtic but he has announced his arrival on this stage with a bang every bit as loud as the overhead fireworks that lit up the dank southside sky in the aftermath of Rodgers’ seven successive trophy win at the club.

Rodgers went with the same starting outfield team who beat Rosenborg in the Europa League on Thursday evening in Trondheim but there was a weariness about the Parkhead side at times.

In saying that, they had ample chances to tie up the game, including a scorned second-half penalty that never was after Scott Sinclair was denied by a fine save by Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis.

But for all that Celtic looked jaded at times against a Dons side who gave pretty much everything they had. It is trite and a little clichéd but it is a truth that the hallmark of a champions is getting the job done regardless and that is the point where Rodgers has taken Celtic.

There was a little slip from the Celtic manager as he walked down the wet Hampden steps with the League Cup trophy in his hands but there have been few mis-steps from Rodgers in his time at the club.

As he handed over the trophy to captain Scott Brown for the team photograph with the ticker tape and the fireworks, Rodgers sneaked in at the back alongside some of his backroom.

He has, of course, placed himself firmly front and centre at the club with this victory which levelled with Walter Smith’s record of seven successive trophies with Rangers between 1992 and 1994.

They will now spend much of the remainder of the season trying to push away any talk of a potential Treble Treble but the possibility will hang there now, tantalising as the campaign unfurls.

Bain took the gloves from Craig Gordon for the final, as promised, but did not have too much chance to muddy them. For all Aberdeen pressed Celtic and worked their socks off in the middle of the park, there were few genuine openings.

There was a snapshot deep in the second period from James Wilson and an offside chance that Bain had been equal to in the opening period from Andrew Considine but other than that his only moment of anxiety came when Jozo Simunovic beat him with an attempted clearance and clipped his crossbar.

Interestingly, Brown started the game on the bench but arrived midway through the second period to take his place as the trophy was handed over.

Christie set the tone from the opening minutes when he first drew the ire Derek McInnes with an exuberant challenge on Shay Logan.

If McInnes was irked at that, it was nothing to his vexation just moments later when Tom Rogic’s raking effort from the edge of the box clipped the outside of the post. Forrest, too, dragged an effort wide but there was little conviction on the effort but the early indications seemed that Celtic would dominate proceedings.

Yet, Aberdeen’s pressing soon put that theory to bed. With Lewis Ferguson paying attention to the influence that Callum McGregor has had on the Celtic midfield of late, he was given the task of stifling the Scotland internationalist by patrolling his every move.

That nullified the creativity of McGregor and Celtic for large chunks of the game.

Forrest had an effort but the winger would have been better off playing in the waiting Scott Sinclair rather than go for goal himself after both widemen had broken in behind the Aberdeen backline.

The game was halted for some time following an alarming clash of heads in the Celtic box after former Parkhead winger Gary-MacKay Steven and Dedryck Boyata rose for a high ball. The reaction of both sets of players underlined the severity of the incident with Mackay-Steven clearly out cold before he had hit the ground.

The Aberdeen player was stretchered off to an ovation from both sets of supporters but there was a more enjoyable reason for the Celtic support getting to their feet shortly after.

Boyata, having been stitched up and heavily bandaged on the touchline, played a perfectly weighted pass through to Christie. The midfielder’s first attempt was blocked by the knee of Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis but alert to the rebound, Christie kept his balance to lift his second shot into the roof of the net.

Celtic were given a golden opportunity to double their lead just six minutes after the restart. Dominic Ball was judged by referee Andrew Dallas to have blocked a cross into the box with his arm, a decision that TV pictures suggested was wide of the mark.

Aside from being just outside the box, Ball seemed to clear the ball cleanly and was incensed at the decision to award the spot kick. In any case, Sinclair’s effort was saved beautifully by Lewis who dived low to his right to paw the ball over the bar.

Sinclair had a chance to atone for the miss shortly after as Celtic broke at speed. McGregor, with greater freedom following Brown’s arrival into the fray three minutes after the hour mark, sent Sinclair through but the winger clipped his effort high and wide.

The second goal that would have eased any nerves within Celtic almost came from an unlikely source when Filip Benkovic brought out a decent stop from Lewis after letting fly with a furious effort from the edge of the box.

Odsonne Edouard, too, had a chance at the death but dithered and allowed it to pass him by.

For Celtic, though, it was enough.

Another trophy banked as the domestic dominance continues.