2020-02-16: Aberdeen 1-2 Celtic, SP

Trivia

• Weekend match
• UEFA Cup match next week.
• Celtic have a comfortable lead in the league following Sevco’s recent faltering in the title challenge, but complacency is best noted and avoided.
• Celtic remain 10pts ahead in the league race. Sevco won 1-0 after this game. Celtic were therefore at one pt 13pts ahead, but Sevco then had 2games, now it's 10pts ahead for Celtic & one game in hand for Sevco
• Ajer scores & probably won't score a more important goal this season. Bitton started (Simunovic injured).
• Greg Taylor off with hamstring injury. Celtic were very poor today, conditions can't be only reason for it, but still won. The score was 1-1 for much of the match.
• Storm Dennis: Major storms over the weekend. Games on the weekend including Sevco's match was postponed. Sevco played the next day. Major floods & windy conditions all over the country far worse than Storm Ciara a week ago. Celtic playing on Sunday on a wet pitch and very windy conditions.
• Celtic & Sky TV have a truce today after Celtic say will not cooperate due to the SKY TV interview with Sevco's Morelos. It was offensive & wrong with mistranslated quotes.
• Report in tabloid paper: Sevco player could have lost an eye in their match at Ibrox but didn’t. Okay!
• Bauer bemoans to a paper that he wanted to play 50 games this season for Celtic, but has been pushed out due to good form of Frimpong etc, and is concerned over his national squad place (Austria). He wasn't in Celtic squad today.
• Ex-Celt Lewis Morgan admits that he asked Celtic to let him go to the US MLS as he was struggling to get a match at Celtic. Fair dues, and we wish him the best at his new club.
• Rangers former owner (now deceased club) Craig Whyte in interview:
  BBC Question : One emotionally very, very divisive issue, which to this day divides Scottish football, and that is are Rangers a new club? What's your view?
  CW: Yes, obviously they are.
  see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51515862
• Jackie McNamara: latest reports are that falling his rush to intensive care following his collapse at home, he is now up & talking which we are all relieved to hear.
• Reports: Celtic's hopes of landing a cash windfall have increased after Manchester United were "given the green light" to pursue the £60m signing of French striker Moussa Dembele from Lyon this summer.
• Neil Lennon recalled losing a five-point lead to Rangers(RIP) during his first full season in management with Celtic as he admitted a degree of empathy for Steven Gerrard.
• Stats: Before today’s game: Since defeat to Sevco at the end of 2019, Celtic have won five straight league games, scoring 19 goals to open up a ten-point lead at the top of the table. Celtic struggled at times against Hearts in the first half at Parkhead but eased to victory after the interval with Callum McGregor continuing his fine form – four goals and four assists in 2020. But praise has to go to Neil Lennon. He was rightly criticised after defeat to Sevco but has reinvigorated Celtic with a switch in formation, getting the best out of McGregor and Olivier Ntcham in midfield, as well as a burgeoning partnership in Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths.

Review

@AgentScotland on Twitter:

Teams

Aberdeen

• 1Lewis
• 2Logan
• 14TaylorBooked at 45mins
• 5McKenna
• 4Considine
• 19Ferguson
• 22Ojo Substituted forCosgroveat 83'minutes
• 18McLennanBooked at 39mins
• 10McGinn
• 23Kennedy Substituted forBrysonat 67'minutes
• 9Main

Articles

• Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

• Match Pictures

Forum

• Pre-match
• Match
• Post Match

MOTM

• Voting Thread
• Result Thread
• Winner –

Stats

Home TeamAberdeenAway TeamCeltic

Possession
Home50%
Away50%

Shots
Home6
Away6

Shots on Target
Home3
Away4

Corners
Home5
Away3

Fouls
Home10
Away14

Articles

Neil Lennon hails ‘massive’ Celtic win in awful conditions at Aberdeen

Manager Neil Lennon is jubilant as the final whistle sounds on Celtic's 2-1 victory at Pittodrie.
Manager Neil Lennon is jubilant as the final whistle sounds on Celtic's 2-1 victory at Pittodrie.
Stephen Halliday
Published: 16:57 Sunday 16 February 2020

Neil Lennon hailed the “solidarity” shown by his Celtic players to secure victory against Aberdeen in what he felt was the toughest test the champions have faced this season.

Celtic manager Lennon celebrated in exuberant fashion at the full-time whistle as he savoured a result which ensured his team maintained a commanding position in the title race.

“I’m thrilled,” said Lennon. “It was a massive win in treacherously difficult conditions to play football. All credit goes to the players who dug out a marvellous result for us. You can’t always play slick, quick football. We had to grind it out today.

“That’s exactly what I want from my team. It’s not always about painting pretty pictures all the time. Sometimes you have to dig in.

“That was the hardest game I’ve had by a considerable way. Conditions were awful and we were playing against a very good side. It’s a magnificent three points for us.

“It’s a good sign (to win when not at your best). We’ve got a bit of character and resilience. They are a team, there is good solidarity within them. They keep going. Their fitness levels are good as well.

“We are not getting ahead of ourselves, there is a lot of football still to play. But in the context of the run we are on, it’s a big win.

“I just wanted to keep the run going today. I wanted to appreciate the fans at the end, for making a long trek early in horrible conditions. I appreciate everything they bring to us, especially the away fans. They were magnificent today.

“Even at 1-1 when the game could have gone either way, our fans were making a lot of noise. So my celebration was just appreciation of them.”

Lennon admitted he felt Celtic may have to settle for a point but he also remained hopeful that the change of shape he made in the second half, switching from his recently favoured 3-5-2 to a flat back four, would give them the opportunity to grab a winner.

“You are thinking maybe it will be a draw and a point away at a tough place wouldn’t be bad,” he said. “But you are always thinking of trying to get a goal with the subs we brought on. Your Tom Rogics and Ryan Christies are the ones who can create something.

“I took Leigh Griffiths off because he was on a booking and also because we wanted to change the shape. The change of system worked quite well for us. We started creating opportunities. Jonny Hayes had a great chance, then we score and then Odsonne Edouard has a great chance. So the change definitely helped the players.

“For the winning goal, James Forrest has opened the pitch right up and then the pass is perfectly weighted. Big Kris, of all people, timed his run to perfection and showed a lot of composure to finish it off.
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“It was a great goal and an important goal. We didn’t want to drop points but it was looking like it. A point at Pittodrie can sometimes be a decent result. In these conditions the game could have gone either way but we have come up with a really important piece of football.”

Celtic will assess the hamstring strain which forced Greg Taylor to limp off in the first half but Lennon is hopeful the left-back will be okay for Thursday’s Europa League match at Copenhagen.

Aberdeen 1 – 2 Celtic: Kristoffer Ajer winner puts champions 17 points clear

Kristoffer Ajer celebrates scoring Celtic's winner against Aberdeen. Picture: SNS.
Kristoffer Ajer celebrates scoring Celtic's winner against Aberdeen. Picture: SNS.
Stephen Halliday
Published: 15:14
Updated: 16:18 Sunday 16 February 2020

Celtic produced a performance and result straight out of the “That’s why they’re champions” playbook as they plundered three points from an Aberdeen side who will feel aggrieved at ending the afternoon empty-handed.

This wasn’t vintage Celtic by any stretch of the imagination but they found a way to rack up their seventh straight Premiership victory since the winter break and remain firmly on course for a ninth consecutive league title.

Norwegian defender Kristoffer Ajer conjured up a finish of which any striker would be proud nine minutes from time to grab victory for Neil Lennon’s men who had seen Ash Taylor cancel out Callum McGregor’s early opener.

It was tough to take for Aberdeen but manager Derek McInnes would take comfort from a committed and aggressive display by his team which was in sharp contrast to their meek capitulation when they lost 4-0 on Celtic’s first visit to Pittodrie earlier in the season.

The swirling wind whipping around the stadium made life difficult for both teams with Celtic in particular struggling to find their customary fluency in possession.

Aberdeen’s energetic and more direct approach appeared more suited to the conditions and they could reasonably regard Celtic’s tenth-minute opener as coming against the run of play.

That said, the hosts only had themselves to blame for the concession which came as a consequence of fatally hesitant and weak defending.

The Dons allowed a relatively harmless long ball from Ajer to bounce and when Scott McKenna found himself on the wrong side of Leigh Griffiths, the danger was obvious. McKenna managed to partially atone for his error as he got back to halt Griffiths on the edge of the penalty area but the ball broke kindly for the striker who played it inside to Odsonne Edouard.

He squared it to James Forrest who worked himself into position for a shot which was parried by Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis. First to react to the loose ball was McGregor who rammed home his 11th goal of the season from close range.

Celtic were unable to build any momentum on the back of the goal, however, and were forced into a change in the 25th minute when wing-back Greg Taylor limped off to be replaced by Jonny Hayes.

Two minutes later, Celtic’s defending left much to be desired as Aberdeen equalised. After failing to properly clear a Niall McGinn free-kick, the visitors were ponderous in their reaction when Connor McLennan flighted the ball back in from the right.

Matty Kennedy was able to flick it on to Ash Taylor on the left corner of the six-yard box, the big defender was afforded all the time and space he needed to steady himself and drill a fine right-foot finish beyond the exposed Fraser Forster.

Aberdeen had their tails up and continued to play with a real sense of purpose. Funso Ojo cut in from the left to test Forster with a powerful shot which the big goalkeeper could only parry in the direction of McGinn who headed wide from around eight yards.
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McLennan was among the most impressive performers in the home ranks but the midfielder embarrassed himself in the 39th minute with his risible attempt to earn a penalty under a non-challenge by Christopher Jullien. He was rightly booked for simulation by referee Andrew Dallas.

Having earlier appeared reluctant to produce his yellow card, that sparked a rash of cautions from Dallas before the break. He took Griffiths’ name for a petulant show of dissent, while Taylor could have no complaints about his sanction for a lunging foul from behind on Edouard.

Aberdeen remained on the front foot at the start of the second half with Celtic finding it difficult to make any telling progress out of their own half.

But while the Dons were dominant territorially, they found clear-cut chances hard to come by. Curtis Main, whose physicality caused problems for Jullien at the heart of the Celtic defence, cut in from the left to try his luck from distance but his shot was comfortably held by Forster.

Lennon made a change in the 58th minute, replacing Griffiths with Ryan Christie and altering formation to a back four. There was no immediate dividend for Celtic who lived dangerously in the 71st minute when Nir Bitton had to clear a curling McGinn cross from underneath the crossbar.

But the champions gradually began to make some attacking inroads with Lewis forced into his first save of the second half three minutes later, doing well to keep out a shot by Hayes who had been neatly set up by Edouard.

It was a piece of magic by the French striker which led the way to Celtic’s winning goal as Aberdeen were caught cold by a brilliant counter attack. Edouard’s instinctive backheeled pass to McGregor allowed the midfielder to set Forrest free on the left. The winger held the ball up intelligently before rolling a pass to the unmarked Ajer on the right of the penalty area and he slammed a fine finish high beyond Lewis from around 12 yards.

Edouard missed a simple chance to put added gloss on Celtic’s victory when he contrived to fire the ball straight at the grounded Lewis after being set up by Forrest but it mattered not as Lennon’s men closed the game out with relative comfort.

BBC

By Brian McLauchlin

BBC Scotland at Pittodrie

5 hours ago From the section Scottish Premiership

Kristoffer Ajer scores Celtic's late winner against Aberdeen
Kristoffer Ajer scores Celtic's late winner against Aberdeen

Celtic stretched their winning run to nine games as Kristoffer Ajer's late goal earned a Scottish Premiership victory against a battling Aberdeen.

Neil Lennnon's men moved 13 points clear in first after a seventh league win in a row before Rangers beat Livingston to reduce the deficit to 10.

But the champions were largely subdued for much of the 90 minutes.

Ash Taylor cancelled out Celtic's Callum McGregor's opener, before Ajer settled it late on.

It was Aberdeen's best display at home to Celtic for some time, but they have now lost the last eight home meetings with the Parkhead team.

Reaction & how it happened
Player Rater: Who was your man of the match?
'We won't get carried away' – Lennon

No reward for battling Aberdeen

Aberdeen ended a drought of five games without a goal in midweek against Hamilton and in the opening period they certainly looked like a team who could pose the champions problems.

Connor McLennan and Niall McGinn looked lively and Curtis Main was proving a handful for the Celtic trio at the back.

However it was the visitors who opened the scoring with their first real attack of the game. Leigh Griffiths got the better of defender Scott McKenna and slid the ball into the path of Odsonne Edouard. The Celtic striker fed the onrushing James Forrest who was denied by goalkeeper Joe Lewis, but McGregor followed up with the rebound for his 11th goal of the season.

But Aberdeen were level when Lewis Ferguson's cross was flicked on by Matty Kennedy into the path of Taylor, who chested the ball down before despatching it beyond the helpless Fraser Forster.

Aberdeen were playing with a confidence that the home fans had rarely seen evidence of this season, and Funso Ojo and McGinn both threatened before the break.

Celtic's record of not dropping points after taking the lead this season was under threat with the windy conditions proving troublesome for both sets of players, but the home side were marginally coping the better.

Before Lennon tweaked his formation, Celtic had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when Edouard set up Jonny Hayes who was clean through on goal before being denied by his former team-mate Lewis.

Aberdeen were always dangerous though, and Mckenna got his head on a cross ball that he would have been better leaving with Main in a much better position to find the target.

And Celtic then did what they do so well with a goal against the run of play. Forrest sent a perfect pass into the path of Ajer who took one touch before firing past Lewis.

Edouard could have sealed the victory with Lewis languishing on the ground, but from just two yards out the striker hit the ball off the goalkeeper and the opportunity was gone.

In the end it was a score that was harsh on Aberdeen who had put so much into the game, but ended up with nothing to show for their efforts.
Celtic celebrate after Kristoffer Ajer's goal
Man of the Match – Niall McGinn

Although it was a Celtic victory it was the Aberdeen players who caught the eye on an afternoon where silky football was definitely not on the agenda.

Ferguson and McLennan gave their all but McGinn tormented the Celtic backline from the first minute to the last and although he ended up in the losing side he can be pleased with his performance overall.
'We did annoy them' – reaction

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "The intent from my team was clear today. We did get after them, we did annoy them, we did put them under pressure. At no point did we want to settle for a point in the second half."
'Scoreline harsh on Dons' – Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes

Celtic manager Neil Lennon: "That was the hardest game I've had by a considerable way. Conditions were awful and we were playing against a very good side. It's a magnificent three points for us."