Match Pictures | Matches: 2020 – 2021
Trivia
- 3pm Saturday
- Neil Lennon resigned as Celtic manager few days back on 24th Feb. Search for new manager begins.
- Celtic apologise to fans over Celtic TV issues
- Irony playing Aberdeen as their manager is similarly under the cosh as Lennon was.
- John Kennedy now interim manager, so a new era to begin. Kennedy has been part of the flak to date too as part of Lennon’s team, so time will tell. Not expected to become full manager. Here’s the early betting on who will replace Neil Lennon:4-6 John Kennedy, 4-1 Eddie Howe, 6-1 Steve Clarke, 7-1 Frank Lampard, 8-1 Rafael Benitez, 12-1 Roy Keane, 20-1 Thierry Henry, 25-1 David Wagner, 25-1 Henrik Larsson
- Celtic have announced a contract extension for Adam Montgomery on the day the youngster was included in the matchday squad for the first time.
- League Cup final today St Johnstone 1-0 Livingston. Congratulations to St Johnstone. Winner was scored by Shaun Rooney, the grandson of the legendary Celtic trainer Bob Rooney, one of Jock Stein’s very able lieutenants at Lisbon and a man who deserves an awful lot of credit for Lisbon and other moments.
- Today is the 1st time in 4 years 9 months and 8 days, a Scottish club other than Celtic has won a domestic trophy. 1746 days of dominance. Trump was president for 1462 days; 1464 days between the 2014 and 2018 W-Cup final.
- Reports: Motherwell captain and Scotland Internationalist Declan Gallagher rejected a move to MLS in favour of seeing out his contract with hope of sealing move to Celtic.
- Former Scotland, Manchester United and Leeds United defender (and Scotsport presenter) Gordon McQueen has been diagnosed with vascular dementia. His family say he “wants footballers of today’s generation to know there may be risks with persistent heading of the ball”.
- Golf legend Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident where he suffered multiple leg injuries.
- France’s rugby clash against Scotland postponed after a new coronavirus case was recorded in the French camp.
- Ipswich sack Paul Lambert as manager. Wish him all the best. Some say could return to Celtic.
- John Higgins is the 2021 Players Championship winner after an emphatic 10-3 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final, sealing the deal with a stunning break of 127! He was incredible and made donation to Kano Foundation charity for each century he made!
Summary
Match overshadowed by the recent resignation of Neil Lennon which was long called for by the Celtic support.
Anyhow, interim period with John Kennedy in charge for the time being. However he has received as much flak in recent seasons as outgoing Lennon. At least he got to a win.
They could’ve just put a tape on of the game from 10 days ago and saved Aberdeen the bother in traveling down.
Summary of the game.First half: Everyone complained the Celtic TV stream was down.Second Half: Everyone wished the Celtic TV stream was down.
Decent passing and movement first half. Dire second half…Aberdeen poor thankfully.
Best Celts were Ajer, Welsh and Broony. Those three rock solid defensively the second half.
Will take a win every day of the week but to be brutally honest that was the wrong side of poor. The right Manager / Coach can turn that side around no question , don’t forget it has not been properly prepared for over two years and it shows.
Teams
Celtic:
29Bain
16Kenny
57Welsh
35Ajer
93Laxalt
8Brown
14TurnbullSubstituted forSoroat 78’minutes
42McGregor
17Christie
22Edouard
11Klimala Substituted forElyounoussiat 65’minutes
Substitutes
4Duffy
9Griffiths
10Ajeti
12Soro
27Elyounoussi
52Henderson
54Montgomery
56Ralston
65Hazard
Goals:
- Edouard (8′ minutes)
Assists:
- Christie (8′ minutes)
>
Aberdeen:
1Lewis
3Hoban
14Taylor
4Considine
18McLennanBooked at 41minsSubstituted forKennedyat 77’minutes
40McCrorie
19Ferguson
24CampbellSubstituted forHendryat 60’minutes
17Hayes
10McGinn Substituted forMcGeouchat 90+2’minutes
22Kamberi
Substitutes
2Logan
9Hendry
15McGeouch
23Ross
26Virtanen
29MacKenzie
33Kennedy
43Woods
46Duncan
Goals:
Assists:
Ref: Willie Collum
Att: none – covid
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Match Links
- Prior
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Stats
Home TeamCelticAway TeamAberdeen
Possession
Home69%
Away31%
Shots
Home12
Away9
Shots on Target
Home3
Away3
Corners
Home7
Away4
Fouls
Home8
Away17
Articles
BBC
By Martin WattBBC Scotland
Last updated on
28 February 202128 February 2021.From the section Scottish Premiership
Highlights of Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen
Celtic interim manager John Kennedy has “no doubt” Kristoffer Ajer will attract interest this summer after the Norway defender’s latest impressive display in the Scottish Premiership.
Odsonne Edouard’s deflected early strike gave Celtic a winning start to life after Neil Lennon as they edged out Aberdeen at home.
Ajer – previously linked with AC Milan and under contract until 2022 – helped repel intense second-half pressure.
“Kris was terrific,” said Kennedy.
“He’s a great character and a leader, that was a big performance from him today. Even when he was tired at the end, he was throwing himself in front of things or getting his head on balls.
“Kris isn’t overly thinking about his future. He’s still very young at 22 and an international player. With his profile of speed, size, technique and ability – there’s going to be interest in him.”
Reaction & as it happened
Aberdeen’s Ash Taylor had an effort cleared off the line as Aberdeen’s much improved performance after the break came to nothing, and Celtic’s win keeps leaders Rangers seven points from the title.
The defending champions move within 15 points of the runaway leaders, while Aberdeen remain four behind third-place Hibernian.
Lennon’s departure – which had looked inevitable for months – came in the wake of last weekend’s defeat by Ross County and left assistant Kennedy at the helm for the remainder of a dismal Celtic campaign.
With the club’s 10-in-a-row title hopes all but dashed, restoring some pride and belief were the stand-in’s first objectives. The opening goal brought confidence flooding back, but only after the hosts were almost caught cold as Taylor’s aerial prowess threatened an opener.
Niall McGinn twice planted the ball on to the big centre-back’s forehead in quick succession, but the crossbar and a brilliant flying tip-over from Scott Bain saved Celtic.
Aberdeen’s promising start was soon punctured as Celtic broke the deadlock with their first meaningful attack. Ryan Christie found Edouard on the edge of the area and the visitors’ lax marking was punished as the French striker’s shot took a ricochet off Tommie Hoban to wrongfoot goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
Ross McCrorie had a 20-yard drive easily dealt with by Bain as Aberdeen tried to respond, but they would spend the rest of the opening 45 minutes hemmed into their own half.
Celtic had hit their stride and David Turnbull danced into the box to force a near-post save from Lewis before Patryk Klimala – on his first league start since the derby defeat by Ranger in October – failed to convert a delicious first-time cross from Jonjoe Kenny.
Christie curled inches wide of the top corner as Celtic kept up the verve and tempo that was too often lacking under Lennon.
Flaws remained, though, and Aberdeen came back strongly after the break as the hosts again failed to deliver a complete performance. Set-pieces have so often been Celtic’s downfall this season and Taylor rose highest to meet a McGinn corner with a header that Klimala had to clear off the line.
Andrew Considine had an effort scrambled clear and McGinn was foiled by a timely Stephen Welsh block as the visitors built momentum but struggled for clear-cut openings.
Celtic should have made the margin of victory more comfortable in the final minutes, with Callum McGregor bending a shot wide and Edouard unable to convert after a swift counter-attack.
Man of the match – Kristoffer Ajer
The Celtic defender was key to the clean sheet as Aberdeen’s second-half pressure came to nothing
The Celtic defender was key to the clean sheet as Aberdeen’s second-half pressure came to nothing
What did we learn?
It wasn’t pretty, or wholly convincing, but this was a hugely important victory for Celtic to restore an element of calm after the upheaval of the past week.
They should have been further in front by half-time, and were made to sweat at times, but a clean sheet and winning start gives Kennedy something to build on.
It was a case of deja vu for Aberdeen, though, as they succumbed to a second 1-0 defeat at Celtic Park in 11 days. Derek McInnes rectified his side’s insipid performance at half-time, but a lack of cutting edge was again evident from a team who have netted one goal in eight matches.
What did they say?
Celtic showed ‘bit of fear’ with narrow lead – Kennedy
Celtic interim manager John Kennedy: “We scored a good goal and had a few good chances but when you don’t get that second goal it changes the game.
“We knew Aberdeen would come after us and we didn’t respond well enough. We gave the ball away too much, but credit to the players in the way they defended the box and dealt with the pressure. They put their bodies on the line and everybody was working for the cause.”
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: “We had two really good chances prior to Celtic’s goal and after they scored we lost a degree of confidence.
“We kept the ball better second half. I’m really pleased with the performance, but frustrated and annoyed we didn’t get something from it.
“Celtic were pinned back second half and struggling to deal with the amount of balls into the box, but we have to take responsibility for getting the ball over the line.”
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