2008-09-27: Celtic 3-2 Aberdeen, SPL

Match Pictures | Matches: 2008 – 2009 | 2008-2009 Pictures

Trivia

  • Two Aberdeen goals scored by Charlie Mulgrew, ex-Celtic youth player! Scored a cracker naka-esque free-kick.

Review

Games like this one are worth the season ticket alone. Frustrating in many ways but you can't dismiss the entertainment value with the Aberdeen fans creating a great atmosphere as well at the game.

Anyhow, first half was a bit of a walkover and we should have been further than just one nil up at half-time, with Samaras putting in a great shift. As happens, we were penalised for this and Aberdeen went two one up with two good goals early in the second half. McGeady coming on for Maloney changed the game for us and wave after wave of attack saw us somehow come back to level the game and then on the 90min mark win the game with a goal created by McGeady for Jan to score with some good footwork. Aberdeen should have drawn in injury time but the one on one with the goalkeeper didn't work out (thankfully), the shot just rolling past the post.

Will be hard to beat this game this season.

Teams

Celtic
Boruc
Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Crosas (McDonald 72), Scott Brown, Maloney (McGeady 61), Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras (Hartley 90).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Donati, O'Dea, Caddis
Booked: Boruc
Goals: Vennegoor of Hesselink 14, McDonald 78, Vennegoor of Hesselink 90

Aberdeen: Langfield, Hodgkiss (Aluko 90), Diamond, Severin (Mulgrew 27), Foster, Young, Kerr, Mair, Duff, Mackie, Miller (Wright 86).
Subs Not Used: Bossu, McDonald, Maguire, Stuart Smith
Goals: Mulgrew 57, 65.

Att: 58,565
Ref: E Smith

Articles

Pictures

KStreet

MOTM Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

Stats

CELTIC ABERDEEN

Possession

58% 42%

Shots on target

8 4

Shots off target

5 5

Corners

7 2

Fouls

10 7

Articles

Celtic 3-2 Aberdeen
By David McDaid

BBC

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored a last-gasp, close-range winner to take Celtic top of the SPL after a fantastic match with Aberdeen in Glasgow.

The Dutchman scored his first of the season as he swept the home side into the lead after 14 minutes.

Charlie Mulgrew drove home an equaliser 12 minutes after the break then scored a second with a great free-kick.

Substitute Scott McDonald headed Celtic level on 78 minutes before Vennegoor of Hesselink sealed the points.

Both sides started slowly as they struggled to get going on a gloomy afternoon in Glasgow.

However, an early flicker of light was Georgios Samaras, whose power and pace with the ball at his feet caused problems for Aberdeen all afternoon.

And the Greek was assisted by some poor Dons defending as Celtic opened the scoring.

Samaras drove forward but lost control of the ball only for Mark Kerr and Richard Foster to get in each other's way in an attempt to clear.

Scott Brown picked up the loose ball and laid it back to Vennegoor of Hesselink, who slotted his first goal of the season inside goalkeeper Jamie Langfield's far post.

Despite leaking four first-half goals in midweek, the Dons went on the offensive, Zander Diamond's having a header cleared off the line by Marc Crosas.

Lee Miller chased a through-ball into the Celtic area, but the danger was averted as goalkeeper Artur Boruc raced off his line for the first of several times in the half.

Under-fire Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood was forced to make an early change when Scott Severin left the field injured after only 27 minutes.

On came Mulgrew and the former Celtic player's first task was to strike a free-kick that Borc held with ease.

Langfield was tested early after the re-start, diving low to push a Samaras shot past the post, and then scrambling to reach a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick.

But the Dons got back level as Mulgrew punished his former club.
Charlie Mulgrew
Mulgrew scored two but it was not enough for a Dons victory

Lee Miller flicked on Jared Hodgkiss' cross and the substitute had time and space to drill the ball under Boruc from 14 yards.

And, moments later, the former Parkhead prodigy stepped up to curl a trademark free-kick over the wall and past Boruc as Aberdeen went 2-1 up.

The home side immediately injected more urgency, with Glenn Loovens coming close twice from headers.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan then sacrificed Marc Crosas in midfield and threw on striker McDonald.

And a game of inspired substitutions continued as Aiden McGeady curled in a cross that McDonald nodded over the line from a yard out.

Aberdeen defended desperately and looked to have secured a priceless point.

But at the death Vennegoor of Hesselink bundled the ball over the line as the Celtic fans erupted.

Darren Mackie had the chance to score an injury time leveller for Aberdeen but put his shot narrowly past the post when one-on-one against Boruc, and the Dons went home empty-handed.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"I think everybody enjoyed that apart from the coaching staff on both sides.

"But, I really do feel sorry for Jimmy Calderwood as they played terrific today.

"It's a bit embarrassing when you see a team that's put so much work into a match getting beaten.

"I've no idea where Aberdeen would find someone who can produce a team like that with no money.

"When Aiden McGeady came on he was fantastic, and he won a tackle to drive on and cross for our second goal.

"That was a turning point in the match.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood:
"It is a very very difficult place to come to and they are a good team who are on form, but we were more than a match for them.

"Performance-wise, I am delighted. Obviously, I'm very, very disappointed with the result.

"It was a wonderful game. We could have won it and we certainly did not deserve to lose.

"If we produce performances like that every week, we will be okay.

"Charlie Mulgrew did brilliantly. But he was trying to play too much football for the third goal and lost possession."

Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Crosas (McDonald 72), Scott Brown, Maloney (McGeady 61), Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras (Hartley 90).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Donati, O'Dea, Caddis.

Booked: Boruc.

Goals: Vennegoor of Hesselink 14, McDonald 78, Vennegoor of Hesselink 90.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Hodgkiss (Aluko 90), Diamond, Severin (Mulgrew 27), Foster, Young, Kerr, Mair, Duff, Mackie, Miller (Wright 86).
Subs Not Used: Bossu, McDonald, Maguire, Stuart Smith.

Goals: Mulgrew 57, 65.

Att: 58,565

Ref: E Smith

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"I think everybody enjoyed that apart from the coaching staff on both sides.
"But, I really do feel sorry for Jimmy Calderwood as they played terrific today.
"It's a bit embarrassing when you see a team that's put so much work into a match getting beaten.
"I've no idea where Aberdeen would find someone who can produce a team like that with no money.
"When Aiden McGeady came on he was fantastic, and he won a tackle to drive on and cross for our second goal.
"That was a turning point in the match.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood:
"It is a very very difficult place to come to and they are a good team who are on form, but we were more than a match for them.
"Performance-wise, I am delighted. Obviously, I'm very, very disappointed with the result.
"It was a wonderful game. We could have won it and we certainly did not deserve to lose.
"If we produce performances like that every week, we will be okay.
"Charlie Mulgrew did brilliantly. But he was trying to play too much football for the third goal and lost possession."

Celtic snatch last-gasp win over Aberdeen

27 September 2008

Provided by: The Irish Examiner

Celtic 3 Aberdeen 2
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s 90th-minute strike gave Celtic a dramatic win over Aberdeen in their Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash at Parkhead.
When the Dutchman fired them into a first-half lead after only 14 minutes it looked like the champions would stroll to victory.
However, former Celtic player Charlie Mulgrew, on as a first-half substitute for Scott Severin, drilled home the equaliser in the 56th minute before curling a wonderful free-kick past Artur Boruc eight minutes later.
Scott McDonald, on for Marc Crosas, headed home the equaliser in the 77th minute and with the Parkhead side moving back into top gear, there was almost an inevitability about the winner although normal time had just elapsed when the Holland international squeezed Aiden McGeady’s cross in at the near post.
As a warm-up for their crucial Champions League clash with Villarreal in Spain on Tuesday, this might not have been ideal but it was certainly exciting for the fans.
Aberdeen’s disjointed defensive performance at Rugby Park did little to suggest they could hold an on-form Hoops side which had Georgios Samaras leading the line having scored nine goals in his last seven games.
The home side pressed from the first whistle and, when Scott Brown headed a Shunsuke Nakamura cross past the back post with less than five minutes gone, it promised to be a long afternoon for the Dons.
When Celtic took the lead through Vennegoor of Hesselink it promised to be longer.
Samaras’s driving run deep into the heart of the Dons penalty area was initially blocked by sheer numbers in the Pittodrie defence.
Brown picked up the loose ball at the edge of the six-yard box and played a short pass back to the Dutchman who carefully placed his shot from 14 yards past Dons keeper Jamie Langfield into the far corner.
The champions, however, lapsed into fits of slackness from which they found it difficult to escape for the rest of the half.
Zander Diamond’s header from a Derek Young corner was cleared off the line by Crosas and, when the ball returned to the box, Dons striker Lee Miller flicked the ball past Parkhead keeper Artur Boruc but over the bar.
But Aberdeen’s chances of a comeback received a blow in the 26th minute when captain Severin limped off to be replaced by Mulgrew, whose first involvement was to test Boruc with a 25-yard free-kick which the Poland international saved comfortably.
At the other end, a terrific block tackle by stopper Lee Mair prevented Nakamura grabbing number two after a good move involving Vennegoor of Hesselink.
As Celtic probed rather than surged, the big Dutchman had a header from a Nakamura cross easily saved by Langfield soon after.
Parkhead defender Lee Naylor missed a decent chance a minute before the interval, shooting wide from 16 yards after getting the break of the ball inside the Dons penalty area.
Samaras forced Langfield into a good save down at his left post with a curling drive from the edge of the box three minutes after the interval, Nakamura’s 25-yard free-kick a minutes later testing the Pittodrie keeper at his other post.
But Celtic were made to pay for their complacency in the 56th minute when Mulgrew fired in an unexpected equaliser.
Darren Mackie sent Jared Hodgkiss scampering down the right flank and when his cross came in to the box, Miller could only help it on to the former Hoops defender at the back post.
Mulgrew teed up his left-foot shot before driving the ball low past Boruc from around eight yards out.
The mood inside Celtic Park changed in that instant and minutes later McGeady replaced Shaun Maloney as Strachan tried to fire his side up but there was more despair in the 64th minute when Mulgrew put the visitors ahead.
After Glenn Loovens conceded a foul against Miller 30 yards from goal, the Dons defender curled the free-kick over the wall and in off the post.
A minute later Celtic skipper Stephen McManus missed a great chance to equalise when he headed a Nakamura free-kick from wide on the left down on to the ground and over the bar.
McDonald came on for Crosas to add to Celtic’s firepower and seven minutes later he was in the right place to head in McGeady’s cross at the back post.
The home side stepped up the pace in their quest for the equaliser and it looked doubtful that the Pittodrie side, their defending becoming increasingly desperate by the minute, could hold out until the final whistle.
Amid a period of unrelenting pressure, Nakamura uncharacteristically fired a shot from 16 yards over the bar, but in the 90th minute Vennegoor of Hesselink squeezed in the winner and Parkhead exploded.
There was one more moment of drama to come.
In the second minute of injury time Mackie missed a sitter when he fired past the post with only Boruc to beat.
© Irish Examiner, 2008. Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH
The Irish Examiner