| Match Pictures | Matches: 1983 – 1984 | 1983-84 Pictures |
Trivia
- The defeat at Pittodrie saw Celtic slide down to third place, two points behind leaders Dundee Utd, who still have a game in hand.
- Strachan missed a penalty.
Review
Teams
Aberdeen:-
Leighton, McIntyre, Miller, McLeish, Rougvie, Strachan (Simpson), Cooper, Bell, Hewitt, McGhee, Weir Sub: Falconer
Goals:- Hewitt 43, McLeish 55, Strachan 74 pen.
Booked:- Cooper Bell
Celtic:-
Bonner, McGrain, Sinclair, Aitken, McAdam, MacLeod (Reid), Provan, P McStay, McGarvey, Burns, McClair. Sub: Melrose
Goal:- Aitken 86.
Booked:- Sinclair, McAdam, Aitken.
Ref:-
Att:- 23,000 (Est).
Articles
- Match Report (See Below)
Pictures
Articles
Manager Interview – Manager Davie Hay
“Apart from the collapse in the second half of the last two matches, I have been very disappointed by the attitudes of certain Celtic players. I can accept defeat if players are trying and this still amounts to a bad performance. But to be a Celtic player you need a special commitment. A Celtic player is always up against it and he must be prepared to give everything for Celtic. He must be prepared to drop for Celtic, not for Davie Hay or any other personality, but for the club. We all know that Celtic is different from the normal football club. Celtic is special and needs special effort at all times. Certain players, namely Provan and MacLeod have not been giving what is expected and as a result they will be dropped from the team for the Hibs game. That gives us a chance to bring in fringe players and one of the boys you can expect to see id John Halpin. He must take his chance and show me that he can hold his own in the first team. If being dropped does not bring it home to players what they must do for Celtic, we must consider the possibility of letting them play their football elsewhere. No-one is assured of his place at Celtic Park. Every player must work for inclusion. Nothing is better than home-grown talent. That has always been the attitude I’ve known as a Celt, but I will always keep my eye on the transfer market in case something better comes along.”
Match Report
Aberdeen played well during this match, but a Celtic side on form would not have let them wipe them aside in such a fashion.
During the first half it looked as if this match could go either way and after only eight minutes Celtic had come very close with a McAdam header from a Provan free-kick, with the ball going inches over the bar.
Two minutes later, another free-kick after Rougvie had fouled Frank McGarvey saw McAdam rise to meet another Provan pass and this time his header hit the bar.
Aberdeen had their chances too, and Pat Bonner was called on to act quickly at his best on a few occasions.
With only two minutes to half-time, the home side took the lead, Bell did well to outpace MacLeod and get to the bye-line to cross for the unmarked Hewitt to score at the left hand post with a header.
There had been much incident during the first half which had seen Sinclair, McAdam and Aberdeen’s Cooper all being booked. Before the final whistle one more man from each side was booked. Roy Aitken’s booking takes his points total over the limit which means he’ll now miss matches.
In the second half Aberdeen got things more their own way and in the 55th minute McLeish put them further ahead with another header.
In the 72nd minute McAdam handled the ball inside the box, it looked as if the ball had struck him unkindly but the referee decided that it should be a penalty.
Gordon Strachan took the penalty, but Bonner brilliantly saved it.
Two minutes later, though, the two faced each other again and this time the Aberdeen player scored. The second penalty had been awarded when McStay was judged to have fouled Mark McGhee in the box.
Aitken scored Celtic’s goal from inside the box in the 86th minute.
