1995-03-05: Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen. Premier Division.

CELTICCREEP CLOSER TO A UEFA PLACE;

Scottish Premier Division:Celtic2,Aberdeen0

BYLINE:Patrick Glenn

ALL the dourness and dishevelment linked with the North-East during this messy season seemed to infect a fixture long regarded as one of most glittering on the calendar.It was difficult at times not to feel a certain pity for two teams who used to be big shots. The only evidence of bigness was Hampden Park itself, the renovated stadium's grandness exaggerated by hectares of empty seats – only 20,623 turned up. Yet only three years agoCelticPark would pull in 50,000, with an automatic full house at Pittodrie.Aberdeen'sworsening position, second from bottom of the Premier Division, is doubtless the most significant factor in any match these days.

This, however, did not prevent the crowd from spending long periods jeering their disapproval, only to be interrupted whenCelticscored the goals which renewed their prospects of finishing second in the league and landing a place in the Uefa Cup.Van Hooijdonk, the big Dutch striker, brought his total to six goals in nine matches by scoring both, the first from the penalty spot and the second with a beautiful header. Van Hooijdonk himself was barged by Irvine just four minutes before the interval, and converted the penalty comfortably.
Ironically,Aberdeenhad been at their most dangerous and had missed one or two chances – Bonner saving well from Shearer, for example – when van Hooijdonk rose to McKinlay's cross from the left in the 79th minute and headed in to the left of Watt.
The victory tookCelticto within one point of Hibs, whose 1-1 draw with Rangers at Easter Road on Saturday – McCall opening for the visitors and Wright equalising – resulted in the latter increasing their lead over second-placed Motherwell to 16 points.
Only one other Premier match was completed, Kilmarnock beating Dundee United 2 -0 at Rugby Park with goals from Mitchell. The Motherwell-Falkirk game was postponed in the morning and the Partick Thistle -Hearts match abandoned after 57 minutes in the afternoon with the score at 0-0.

BYLINE:Ken Gallacher

ABERDEENplunged still deeper into crisis yesterday. And the penalty decision which sent them towards yet another defeat underlined just how the breaks can go against a struggling team.
The award by referee Andrew Waddell — who seems to strut happily hand in hand with controversy — was a soft one. It looked that way when it was given, and the feeling was endorsed by television replays.

Giant Dutchman Pierre Van Hooydonk was presumed to be the victim of a push in the back from Brian Irvine. Whatever anyone else thought, Waddell gave the penalty and the Dutchman scored.Then, late in the game, the £1.2m buy from Holland added a second to take Waddell partially off the hook.
These goals ended a run of four games without a win forCelticin the premier division, and it was only their third in their past 21 league games.
The goals also emphasised the plight the Pittodrie team now find themselves in.
You must presume that when the television planners decided on this game for a live showing, they expected a meaningful clash between two major teams.
Instead they found themselves with two starring clubs who have known better times scrapping it out in front of just more than 20,000 fans — a far cry indeed from the momentous clashes of the not-so-distant past.
This wasCeltic'slowest gate of the season. And it was close to 9000 down on the first time the two clubs met at Hampden in their first premier meeting of the season.
It was sad to see the rows of empty seats, and to realise that the major interest in the outcome was not the title, but only how farAberdeenwould become embroiled in the relegation struggle.
That penalty, when it arrived, stemmed a rising tide of boos and jeers from the unhappy fans.
Paul McStay had started the game, and as skipper at that. This time it was the turn of international colleague John Collins to sit things out with a place on the substitutes' bench.
It wasCelticwho pushed forward most at the start of the game, but somehow they were unable to make things happen at that early stage. In 31 minutes, however, keeper Michael Watt had to hurl himself along his line to smother a drive from Tosh McKinlay. Soon afterwards, Watt raced from his line to block a shot from Phil O'Donnell.
Then came the controversial penalty four minutes before half-time. Van Hooydonk scored, andAberdeenperhaps realised that nothing was going right for them.
They might have changed things in the second half as they tried to come back — but they failed.
In 54 minutes, youngster Stephen Glass beat Tommy Boyd out on the left, and then whipped a cross over the face of the goal. Joe Miller reached it first and smacked a header against the face of the bar.
There was another chance just three minutes later when Billy Dodds crossed from the right. Eoin Jess rose to challenge Pat Bonner, the keeper dropped the ball, and Boyd hooked it away just short of the line.
Then in 71 minutes, Bonner redeemed himself with a world-class save. Duncan Shearer had replaced Jess, and when Stephen Wright crossed from the right, the powerful striker sent in a header which Bonner stopped with his legs on the goal-line.
By now, too, John Collins had replaced Brian McLaughlin after 60 minutes to add some more urgency toCeltic'splay.
Twelve minutes from the end, it was McKinlay who made ground down the left and then set up a chance for the second decisive goal. His cross drifted way over to the far post, and Van Hooydonk was there unchallenged to touch a header into the net.
Although Billy Dodds did have the ball in the net forAberdeenfour minutes later, that was disallowed for offside as if to sum upAberdeen'safternoon.
Beforehand, manager Roy Aitken had hoped that the presence of the television cameras would lift his players, just as it did three weeks ago when he took over as caretaker for the first time in the clash with Rangers at Pittodrie.
Then the players had responded to the challenge and handed the new man a victory. Yesterday they were unable to do it. The penalty blow certainly dented whatever confidence they may have left.
Clearly Aitken has problems. Just as clearly, they have not been of his making.
Aberdeenare playing as if they are a team doomed to face at least a play-off in any attempt to stay in the top division.
They have been offered a £5000-a-man bonus to stay up. Yesterday there were few signs that, even with that kind of cash on offer, the players have the ability and the commitment to pull themselves clear of the danger zone they have now lived in for too long.

BYLINE:Kevin McCarra

THE meeting ofCelticandAberdeenis a fixture which has fallen on hard times. Throughout the 1980s any match between the clubs was loaded, flush with excitement and ability. Now, an impoverished contest has only a dreary kind of significance.Aberdeenwill care deeply about their 2-0 defeat at Hampden Park yesterday because it makes relegation even more plausible.There is, however, little cause forCelticto preen over one of their infrequent victories, given that it was achieved only through labour and luck.Aberdeen'smanager, Roy Aitken, was infuriated by the penalty decision with which his side fell behind. Tommy Burns'sCelticlack the weaponry to riddle any opponents with goals.

The team-sheets testified to the curious feebleness money sometimes has in football. Both clubs have spent heavily andCeltic'ssquad included five players who have cost Pounds 1 million or more. Prices, however, are rising only because there is a diminishing supply of talent. All the same,Aberdeenmay not have to worry about that kind of expenditure for much longer.Should they be demoted, the sale of their current squad and the reduction of the wages bill will be the main concern as they economise for life in the first division.Aberdeen'shorror at the very prospect is reflected in a reported decision by the board to offer a Pounds 5,000 bonus per man if relegation is avoided. The perversity of rewarding players for an embarrassing season, so long as utter ruin is averted, goes unremarked.
Should the team fail, legislation may rescueAberdeen. In Scotland, the size of the premier division has been known to expand whenever there appear to be too few places for the comfort of major clubs. It acquired two extra members for a period when Motherwell were about to be relegated. Now, theAberdeenchairman, Ian Donald, has abruptly been converted to the idea that the premier division should contain 16 members.
A taste for the expedient can be forgiven in a man brooding over debts of Pounds 2 million. However, other clubs have a duty to vote only for proposals which serve the long-term interests of the sport. If the nature of the action continues to be as irritating as it was yesterday, the fluctuations in the structure of the League will be met with a decline in attendances.
The crowd of 20,623 wasCeltic'ssmallest of the season and that fact is not to be attributed only to live TV coverage. In the past, a seat in front of the box in the living room would only have been a consolation prize for those who had failed to obtain tickets. These days, asCelticbecome increasingly associated with halting, anxious football, those who do attend have come only to grumble.
Burns, who yesterday dropped John Collins from the starting line-up, knows how unsatisfactory the entertainment is. By the middle of the first half, as yet another simple pass was miskicked out of play, the jeering had begun.
The multitude of errors, though, was to contain one which worked wholly toCeltic'sadvantage. After 40 minutes, Tom Boyd lifted a free kick into the middle and Brian Irvine needlessly nudged Pierre van Hooijdonk in the back. The referee, Andrew Waddell, pointed first at the defender, as if identifying an act of folly, before, despite all the visitors' indignation, awarding the penalty. Van Hooijdonk converted it with aplomb.
Aberdeenare often accused of fragility, but on this occasion the loss of a goal enhanced their sense of self-belief. Belatedly, they began to charge atCelticwho, in the second half, were ever more dependent on their rugged centre half, Tony Mowbray.
Despite his interventions,Aberdeenought still to have scored on two occasions. Stephen Glass's fine run and cross was met by Joe Miller but, from close range, his header was rammed against the bar. In the 72nd minute, the substitute, Duncan Shearer, was unusually tentative as he rose to Stephen Wright's header and Pat Bonner was able to block his attempt.
Celtic, with Paul McStay performing ineffectually on his return, lacked the co-ordination to recover control. Twelve minutes from the end, though, there was at last a slick build-up which allowed the game's best player, Tosh McKinlay, to find Van Hooijdonk with a deep, devilish cross. The Dutchman's header was neat and decisive.
The audience will carefully tend the memory of that one adroit episode.