Jan: It was a penalty

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The Dutchman tumbled under a challenge from Saints goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert in the penalty area and gave Celtic a 13th-minute lead from the spot, before later heading the winner.

It was unclear how much contact there had been, however Vennegoor of Hesselink insisted: "I think it was a penalty but I don't know how anyone else things about that. I wanted to get up, but the referee gave a penalty and I thought it was a good one."

He could finish his first season in Scotland with two trophies, with Celtic close to clinching the Bank of Scotland Premier League title and now into the cup final, where they will face either Hibernian or Dunfermline on May 26.

"It's fantastic for us to play in the final," said Vennegoor of Hesselink. "Defensive-wise they were very good and they made life hard for us."

St Johnstone manager Owen Coyle was not convinced by the penalty claim.

"At the time I thought it was soft," he said. "It could have been given, but equally I've seen them not given."

Coyle was full of praise for his team's performance. They had late chances to force a draw, but were kept out.

He said: "I thought it was a terrific performance from St Johnstone, which is all I'm interested in, and I genuinely believed we deserved better than we got over the 90 minutes."

Coyle added: "On reflection, I think we'll probably feel we should certainly have forced a replay if nothing better."