| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
Trivia
- As the bonus dispute rumbled on, despite the payment of the entire £280,000 to Yorkhill hospital, the players decided to “work-to-rule” and not attend any of the extraneous events organized. The dispute now appeared to focus on comments that Fergus McCann had made about the players’ behaviour. The players also fell out with Matt McGlone who wrote column in Celtic View when he wrote that the players had "…. sold the jersey"
- Prior to the Aberdeen game Dr Jo Venglos hinted that he might side with the players over the bonus dispute. The dispute now appeared to settle fairly between the players and the club with the Head Coach caught in the middle.
- Celtic sported the new black strip for the first time
- Tommy Johnson’s cruciate ligament surgery was declared successful.
- The club were linked with transfer moves for Marc Vivien Foe and Christian Dailly.
Review
Two missed penalties and an own goal against the Bhoys contributed to this loss – Aberdeen’s first win over Celtic in three years. And of course, there was Willie Young.
Teams
Aberdeen:
Leighton, Perry, Whyte, Inglis, Smith, Hignett, Jess (Buchan ,83), Dodds, Kiriakov, Anderson, Rowson
Subs not used: Dow, Gillies, Young, Stillie
Scorers: Perry (39), Blinker (og, 56), Hignett (59)
Bookings: Jess, Rowson (Aberdeen)
Red Cards: Rowson (Aberdeen, 83)
Celtic:
Gould, Boyd , McNamara, Rieper, Larsson, Burley , Donnelly (Brattbakk ,63), Blinker, Lambert, Jackson, Annoni
Subs not used: MacKay, Kerr, McBride, Burchill
Scorers: Larsson (69), Larsson(pen,90)
Bookings: Blinker, Jackson, Lambert, McNamara (Celtic)
Red Cards: Jackson (Celtic, 80)
Referee: W Young (Scotland)
Attendance: 16,640
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Aberdeen | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 2 | 4 |
| Red Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Fouls | 20 | 9 |
| Shots on Target | 4 | 10 |
| Corners | 2 | 8 |
| Offside | 4 | 3 |
Aberdeen cash in as Celtic surrender another win bonus
The Scotsman 17/08/1998
AS Aberdeen scaled the summit of the Premier League, Celtic discovered the height of embarrassment by missing two penalties as the reputation of the champions was gutted by a passionate Pittodrie performance.
Goals from the unlikely source of Mark Perry, the head of the hapless Regi Blinker and then a sweet finish from Craig Hignett saw Aberdeen take a three goal lead before Henrik Larsson pulled one goal back after 69 minutes.
But another significant trio, in helping Aberdeen to a first win over Celtic in three years, was that of penalty attempts awarded to the Parkhead side.
Swedish striker Larsson succeeded where Craig Burley and Simon Donnelly earlier failed by scoring the visitors' second goal four minutes into injury time.
Adding to the drama in this second Scottish Sunday thriller for the Sky Sports cameras were two red cards – for Darren Jackson and David Rowson, who shared four bookable offences between them.
Two bookings in the opening seconds hinted that a tempestuous contest was to follow. Paul Lambert and Eoin Jess formed an unlikely combination for a petty scuffle in the centre circle. Showing some early understanding and simply warning the duo to cool down is not the style of referee Willie Young, and two unnecessary yellow cards were handed out.
With Celtic fielding an adventurous formation for an away fixture – Venglos finding room for Jackson, Larsson and Donnelly – it was no surprise to see them go closest to an opening goal.
Jackie McNamara teed up Blinker from 20 yards out and his low, curling effort should not have caused Jim Leighton too many jitters.
Somehow the ball slithered from his grasp straight to the feet of unmarked Larsson but it was the Swede who had the reddest face with an inexplicable miss from just eight yards.
Blinker, who had been frustrated by good tackles from Russell Anderson twice before, then found room on the left to provide Darren Jackson with an intelligent cutback to catch the Aberdeen defence on the wrong foot. His chance was not as gilt-edged as that of Larsson but Jackson too failed to force his international team-mate into a save.
At this stage, Blinker had been enjoying his honeymoon period at Celtic fully one year on from his signing. The compliment to his first half performance yesterday was that Jess found himself pulled back from midfield to provide Anderson with cover in marking the Dutchman.
That's not the job which Alex Miller wanted to see supposedly his most creative player carry out and as a result, summer capture Craig Hignett and Billy Dodds were a strike partnership strangled of service for most of the half.
Still, goals can come from the most unusual places and there are few more bizarre in scoring terms than the right boot of defender Perry. More educated feet will struggle to better the sweetly struck shot which gave Aberdeen a 39th minute lead.
Gary Smith's cross was tamely nodded away by Marc Rieper and Perry allowed the ball to take one bounce before lobbing a perfect effort over Jonathan Gould and high into the net from fully 30 yards.
Perry seemed unsure of how to react to these events and held his face in disbelief, but the unorthodox celebrations were soon mugged as he was buried under his delirious team-mates.
Jackson was booked for dissent as Celtic's frustrations increased and Aberdeen knew only too well that the visitors were rattled.
Hignett, the free signing from Middlesbrough, was the bright spark of the game, bustling to and from either wing to exhibit the type of work ethic that makes manager Miller proud.
In contrast, there was an edginess about the Celtic attack and that was demonstrated five minutes after the interval when another chance was scorned.
Anderson handled from a Blinker corner kick and Young had the Celtic bench on their feet in premature celebration by pointing to the penalty spot.
Craig Burley, who scored a winner for Celtic from the spot last season, joined the taker Donnelly in complaining that Leighton was not standing on his line.
The delay might well have had a part in unsettling Donnelly, for he succeeded only in bashing his shot off the base of the post and red jerseys were quick to clear. He was to pay for the miss, replaced soon after by Harald Brattbakk.
Celtic's own mistakes left them chasing the game after those missed opportunities and their panic increased after 56 minutes.
Gary Smith launched a free kick 50 yards upfield but as Gould came to collect, Blinker tried to nod the ball back to where he believed his goalkeeper to be.
Imagine his horror, and Aberdeen's joy, when the ball soared over the despairing Gould and into the net.
There had been a feeling that Blinker remained an accident waiting to happen despite beginning to show promising form in the early part of the season and his return to favour with the Celtic fans did not last long.
Instead, he became an embarrassed idol of the Pittodrie fans after that gaffe, to the extent that his every touch was cheered and afforded the 'We're not worthy' routine when taking corner kicks.
If that goal belonged in Sky Sports' comic cuts, the third should feature in the pick of the week. Perry and Jess combined to open up the Celtic defence for Hignett, who sprang clear of Blinker, rounded Gould and finished coolly from a tight angle.
Within nine minutes, Celtic were back in the game. Blinker partly atoned for his error by collecting a ball from Burley and crossing to Larsson, who spun away from his marker and headed past Leighton.
The Scotland goalkeeper was to gain his revenge in the most spectacular fashion for the rest of the match. Celtic were awarded a second penalty after Lambert was tripped by Derek Whyte, but Burley gave Leighton a good chance of saving with a shot at the ideal height for a goalkeeper.
The danger was not cleared, however, until Leighton produced a brilliant reflex stop from a thunderous drive by McNamara, and then gathered the ball. Minutes later, the veteran repeated his remarkable save from Roberto Carlos against Brazil with a blinding parry from Larsson.
The thrills continued well into the final minutes in which Jackson's sarcastic applause of a refereeing decision and Rowson's tackle on McNamara saw the pair ordered off.
Gould thrust out a foot to deny a cheeky near post effort from Hignett and Dodds missed by a yard after good work from Kiriakov, but Celtic's humiliation on the field after a week of embarrassment off it was already complete.
PA Sport Match Report at Sportinglife.com
- Manager Interview
Dr Jo Venglos post match
"I do not believe the players were affected by the problems. They tried hard. They do not think about problems when they are on the field, and we shall not be speaking about them.
“We concentrate on the game only."
“It was an exciting match for the team and the supporters and dutring games like that anything can happen. We had opportunities that we simply did not realise.
Aberdeen 3 Celtic 2
By Simon Buckland, PA Sport
Aberdeen stunned Celtic with a thrilling win at Pittodrie – but the Scottish champions will consider much of the damage self-inflicted after they missed two of three penalties and both sides were reduced to 10 men.
Simon Donnelly and Craig Burley each missed from the spot as Celtic tried in vain to repair the damage of a three-goal burst launched by Mark Perry's 39th-minute opener.
Regi Blinker put through his own net in bizarre fashion after 56 minutes and in Aberdeen's next attack Craig Hignett put the Dons 3-0 ahead on the hour mark.
Celtic were not to be defeated easily, Henrik Larsson's 69th-minute goal offering hopes, but any thoughts of a comeback disappeared with their double spotkick misery.
To compound matters Darren Jackson was sent off after 79 minutes seemingly for a retaliatory kick aimed towards Ilian Kiriakov, though both sides were down to 10 men within four minutes.
Referee Willie Young had no option but to dismiss David Rowson for a lunging foul on Jackie McNamara, his second bookable offence to give a thrilling match even more controversy.
But there was more to come – with the final kick of the match Larsson succeeded where his colleagues had failed by slotting home a 94th-minute penalty for a belated second.
Aberdeen's first victory over Celtic in 13 attempts moves them top of the Premier League, but nobody could have anticipated the manner in which three points were achieved.
As with Wednesday's European Champions' League second qualifying round first-leg win over Croatia Zagreb, Celtic's build-up was overshadowed by their players' financial concerns.
The dispute over European win bonuses has continued onto the domestic stage with the Celtic players having taken a collective vow of silence in a virtual work-to-rule stance.
Darren Jackson, whose goal as substitute secured the 1-0 midweek success, was rewarded with a starting place in preference to Harald Brattbakk in a three-man attack for Celtic.
Alan Stubbs failed a late fitness test on an ankle problem meaning Enrico Annoni, ahead of Malky Mackay, was his deputy in central defence.
Paul Lambert and Eoin Jess set the highly competitive tone of proceedings by each being booked after just 30 seconds after a brief altercation near the halfway line.
Celtic's first opening was a Marc Rieper header narrowly wide from a Regi Blinker corner, while for Aberdeen an angled chip by David Rowson almost surprised Jonathan Gould.
After 11 minutes, a Blinker snap-shot was fumbled by Jim Leighton and the Scotland keeper was relieved to see Larsson snatch at the rebound and amazingly miss the open goal on the rebound.
Celtic's next chance was also spurned, Blinker creating space for himself on the left before a cutback that invited a low sidefooted shot from Jackson, again the wrong side of the post.
Leighton was more alert after 34 minutes to save a clipped shot on the turn from the enterprising Jackson, but Celtic were about to pay for their earlier carelessness.
After 39 minutes, a Rieper clearing header only went as far as Perry who chested the ball down before firing a right-foot volley looping over Gould and in from fully 25 yards.
It was a stunning way to mark his home debut after his summer free transfer from Dundee United, but only an ardent Don would claim it was anything but against the run of first-half play.
But the drama had barely begun as after 50 minutes Celtic were awarded the first of three penalties awards, two of which they were to miss.
Blinker's corner was needlessly handled by Russell Anderson for a spotkick that Donnelly stepped up to hit against the base of the post.
After 56 minutes, a farcical second goal arrived as an unchallenged Blinker guided a cushioned header beyond his own keeper Gould from a Gary Smith free kick.
Aberdeen were now pushing forward in numbers and with the move of the match Jess pushed Hignett through and he rounded Gould before tapping the ball into an empty net for 3-0.
Celtic hopes were briefly revived when Burley fed Blinker and his cross was converted by Larsson's fierce close-range header.
But with 18 minutes left on the clock Celtic's second penalty miss arrived, this time Burley bringing a fine save by Leighton who was alert enough to block Jackie McNamara's powerful rebound.
Then came the red cards: firstly Jackson for retaliation, then a mere four minutes later Rowson joined him after fouling McNamara on the touchline.
The closing chapter of an amazing story saw Larsson convert a penalty after John Inglis pushed Annoni in the box in the fourth minute of injury-time.
Teams
Aberdeen (1) 3 Celtic (0) 2
Aberdeen: Leighton, Perry, Whyte, Inglis, Smith, Hignett, Jess (Buchan 83), Dodds, Kiriakov, Anderson, Rowson.
Subs Not Used: Dow, Gillies, Young, Stillie.
Sent Off: Rowson (83).
Booked: Jess, Rowson.
Goals: Perry 39, Blinker 56 og, Hignett 59.
Celtic: Gould, Boyd, McNamara, Rieper, Larsson, Burley, Donnelly (Brattbakk 63), Blinker, Lambert, Jackson, Annoni.
Subs Not Used: MacKay, Kerr, McBride, Burchill.
Sent Off: Jackson (80).
Booked: Lambert, Jackson, McNamara, Blinker.
Goals: Larsson 69, 90 pen.
Att: 16,640
Ref: W Young (Clarkston).