| Match Pictures | Matches: 1999– 2000 | 1999-2000 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic were linked to signing Torino’s French defender Djibril Diawara. Primarily a defender he had also played as a defensive midfielder and was probably being looked at to fill in the role Barnes had wanted Burley to fulfil. He could have also have been a replacement for Johan Mjallby if Mjallby went ahead and left the club.
- The moves reported on Raphael Scheidt started to run into ‘difficulties’. His Brazilian club Gremio said that there were an Italian and a German team also interested in him and that £3.00million might not be enough. Scheidt was said to have 16 caps but had not played 75% of Brazilian internationals in the last 2 years and his application for a work permit would have to go to a tribunal. Gremio turned down Celtic’s first offer of £4.00million on 10th December.
- Tommy Johnson was linked to a move to Derby to join Craig Burley. Johnson’s family were resident in Derby.
- In a move to counteract a growing wave of anti-Celtic press reports Kenny Dalglish issued a statement calling the alleged stories that Viduka, Berkovic and Mjallby were all seeking transfers as “outright lies”.
- Riseth was out with concussion. Mahe came back in and Blinker made the bench.
Review
A clear first half goal for Viduka chopped off by McCurry but in the end it made little difference. Leighton got a yellow for giving the Vicky to the Aberdeen crowd.
Teams
Aberdeen: Leighton, Perry (McGuire 75), Whyte, Jess (Zerouali 55), Winters, Dow (Belabed 64), Bernard, Anderson, Guntveit, McAllister, Stavrum.
Subs Not Used: Esson, Rutkiewicz.
Celtic: Gould, McNamara, Stubbs, Tebily, Mahe, Lambert (Blinker 75), Wieghorst, Berkovic (Petrov 64), Mjallby, Viduka, Moravcik (Wright 74).
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Burchill.
Goals: Lambert 21, Mahe 28, Moravcik 67, Viduka 75, Blinker 81, Wright 87.
Booked: Bernard, Leighton (Aberdeen) Tebily. (Celtic)
Referee: M McCurry (Scotland).
Att: 16,532
Articles
- Match Report
Celtic six, Aberdeen sick
Scotland on Sunday 12/12/1999
By Andrew Smith at Pittodrie
Aberdeen 0-6 Celtic
TURKEY shoots are a regular feature of this time of year. But when Celtic get Aberdeen in their sights, the season seems to have no bearing on their ability to produce the footballing equivalent of one.
All and sundry constantly predicted in the lead-up to yesterday's encounter that a revitalised Aberdeen would not succumb so meekly to, what has proven to be, their Parkhead executioners as had been the case in suffering 5-0 and 7-0 horsings at the hands of the men in green and white earlier this season. So much for confident predictions.
In taking their tally against Ebbe Skovdahl's side to 18 goals without reply, Celtic served notice that they are capable of mounting a genuine challenge for the title. Their previous two maulings of the Pittodrie men perhaps owed more to fecklessness on the part of their opponents than anything else. But this latest instalment in the seemingly never-ending series of one-sided encounters between the two was all about a richness of invention and a new-found conviction that is suddenly coursing through John Barnes' team.
We are forever being told that the Old Firm are only three games away from a crisis. Barnes will content himself that it is equally true to say the Glasgow sides are only ever three straight wins away from consolidation. In securing such a sequence over the past fortnight, with yesterday's win following league victory over Hibs and CIS Cup success against Dundee, Barnes has not simply guaranteed himself some breathing space. The Englishman, who is only five months into his first coaching role, has maybe provided evidence he possesses the nous required to make a good fist of his job.
There are signs that the learning curve is rising as steeply on the field as off it. "I think we are playing as well now as we were at the start of the season," Barnes confessed. And the 6-0 victory even allowed for magnanimity with Barnes peculiarly offering that it was a scoreline that perhaps flattered his side. In truth, it was not.
Barnes has previously protested that systems do not maketh a side. However, he is unlikely to protest too much about the assertion that canning the 4-2-2-2 formation which left certain players looking like square pegs pushed into round holes has done wonders for his employment prospects and the ambitions of his club.
The Celtic coach ought to be commended for galvanising his side in the midst of adversity. The loss of Henrik Larsson may have forced his hand but it is his response to the Swede's unavailability that suggests Barnes is perhaps more astute than we may have thought. Inflexibility of the kind with which he has been charged would have been persisting with the same team shape and plopping Ian Wright or Mark Burchill into the team in the role previously undertaken by Larsson.
Instead, Barnes recognised the greater flexibility of ripping up the team plan and starting again was more appropriate and such as Mark Viduka and Eyal Berkovic have grown wings as a result. Viduka in his role as full dedicated striker has been awesome and utilising wing-backs has allowed Berkovic and Moravcik to do damage in the forward areas in which they can be so deadly.
Skovdahl admitted that Viduka was Aberdeen's chief destroyer and his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into the play, by using his bulk to make him a human shield, has been as significant as his goalscoring prowess.
It was the former attribute that paved the way for Celtic's 20th-minute opener. A cutback from Jackie McNamara found Paul Lambert advancing towards the box before an exchange of passes with Viduka brought a return that led to the Celtic midfielder dispatching a tracer bullet of a shot into the top corner from 20 yards.
The lightning movement of Celtic in forward areas proved the basis for a second goal eight minutes later, with Berkovic feeding Stephane Mahe, who slipped inside from the left-hand edge of the area and thumped the ball low past Jim Leighton. Restored to the side as a result of Vidar Riseth being knocked out with concussion, the Frenchman celebrated as you would expect of a man enjoying a feast before a famine, a three-match ban that he will now prevent him playing again until the resumption of hostilities in late January.
After Aberdeen steadied the ship, the second catastrophic Celtic wave hit them midway through the second half when Moravcik conjured a goal out of nothing stepping inside from the right flank and wriggling past Jamie McAllister before planting a left-foot shot high past Leighton. Eight minutes later the goalkeeper gifted Celtic a fourth when he slipped coming to meet a cross and in so doing invited Viduka to roll the ball into the empty net.
There was more than a little showboating element to Celtic's fifth in the 81st minute. Morten Weighorst sent in a disguised cross, with his legs seemingly intertwined, that was rammed home at the back post by substitute Regi Blinker.
Fellow replacement Ian Wright completed the rout three minutes from time when he squeezed a shot in at Leighton's near post, having earlier been denied a certain penalty when he was felled by Russell Anderson.
Skovdahl was his typically unflustered self in reflecting on the effect of what one more rout will be on his side who have now conceded an astonishing 56 goals in the league this season, admitting that he would "torture" himself by watching the game on video. "There is no reason to be angry as my players started confidently and had opportunities before Celtic scored two to make them comfortable" Skovdahl said.
"I hope it's not a setback but we won't know that until the next game."
Such a heavy reverse coming on the back of Aberdeen's CIS win over Rangers and midweek victory over Hearts suggests you just never know what indeed is coming next with Aberdeen.
- Manager Interview
John Barnes post match:
"It was a very satisfying result, even more so because Aberdeen put in a more spirited performance than in our previous encounters.
"In the first half and for 20 minutes of the second they gave us a few problems until the third goal went in.
" I am pleased to see goals coming from all areas of the park – six different goal scorers is unusual for us but we were able to commit a lot of players forward."
"Everyone will look at the result and see 6-0 but I think Aberdeen have come a long way since our first two games against them.
“I think, overall, that 6-0 flattered us a bit."
"I'm quite happy big sides are watching Mark because it illustrates how well he is playing right now – as long as he is doing it for us I am happy.
"You could argue he should have scored a few more but his overall play in this game and over the last few months has been tremendous."
Pictures
Stats
| Aberdeen | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 2 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 9 | 10 |
| Shots on Target | 4 | 7 |
| Corners | 3 | 5 |
| Offside | 1 | 3 |