Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has fired a cheeky jibe towards Rangers manager Michael Beale after his side secured their spot in the League Cup final.

The Scottish champions defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 at Hampden to set up a tie with either Rangers or Aberdeen in the showpiece finale next month.

Earlier this week Beale described Postecoglou as a "lucky man" as he highlighted the disparity between the spending power of both clubs, saying that while the Celtic manager was a good coach, he had spent a lot of money on players during his time in Glasgow that Rangers simply couldn’t match.

And the Aussie could not resist a cheeky pop as his team picked up an important victory at the national stadium.

He told BBC Sportsound: "We haven't needed Joe [Hart] a lot but that's the beauty of him, he's an experienced campaigner. In the big moments, he's there and we needed him a couple of times today. Their keeper pulled off a couple of good saves, too. Both keepers played their part.

"I am a lucky man, so maybe it filters through to the players as well."

On the match itself, he continued: "Credit to Derek and his boys, they gave everything. It's a semi-final of a cup and that's what you expect. It was a battle today. Conditions made it tough, the pitch made it tough. Credit to my boys again, they always find a way irrespective of what the challenge is. They found a way again today.

"Battling is performance. Performance is giving the best you can under the conditions that are presented to you. There was never any chance that was going to be an open game. It was going to be a game of mistakes, battles. Credit to this group, they don't shirk away from that either. If they need to roll their sleeves up, they just do it."

Meanwhile, Derek McInnes was frustrated that his side were not awarded a penalty.

He said: "We needed so much to go right and do so much right ourselves to give ourselves a chance. We nullified the majority of their threat for long spells in the game. To lose a goal from a set-piece, when we've got good size and experience about us, is just really disappointing.

"We showed good personality and appetite and courage to get after them at the right times. You have to pick and choose your moments against Celtic, and we had to be smart with that. The players did so much right.

"It's not the right decision. It's a penalty kick at the death. The ball is quite flat, Giakoumakis can't get to the ball and he's put his arms round Joe Wright. I thought it was a penalty at the time and even more so having seen it back.

"I don't understand. We were told VAR would help the situation. I think VAR can at least ask the referee to have another look. Having seen it again, it is a penalty. It's a clumsy challenge. There's no point me speaking to the referee now. It's there for these big games. I feel that was a penalty kick and I'm so disappointed for the players because I thought we deserved to take it to extra-time."