Celtic picked up a morale-boosting late win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie today, restoring a nine-point lead at the top of the table.
Ange Postecoglou’s Bhoys dominated possession and territory in the fixture up against a defensive Dons and for a while, it looked like there was no way to goal. However, a ripping Callum McGregor finish late on decided the 1-0 result, to the delight of Celtic fans everywhere.
What were the big takeaways from the encounter? Here are three of ours…
Finishing frustrations
Celtic had the chances to win by a much more comfortable margin today. Kyogo Furuhashi in particular had a couple of golden opportunities to break the deadlock but couldn’t quite find his shooting boots before being substituted off.
Aberdeen purposely set up with a deep low block in an effort to frustrate the Bhoys – they offered very little attacking threat of their own. But it was up to the Bhoys to break them down and unfortunately, familiar finishing woes were apparent beyond McGregor’s stunner from distance.
Obviously, it’s the first game back after an extended break so hopefully this is just a sign of the team and attacking talents again warming up to the task at hand. We’ll need to be much more ruthless throughout December.
Fantastic Liel Abada
The Israeli winger added a real spark to today’s Celtic performance off the bench and you’d fancy him to be in the starting line-up for our next match at home to Livingston on Wednesday night.
He caused mayhem on the overlap, found some delightful through balls beyond the defensive line and threw in dangerous crosses that really should have been put away.
Abada has yet to find true consistency match to match in a Celtic shirt but the signs are good on this performance that he can kick on to become a creative force as well as a brilliant finisher.
Back with a bang
The script was written for Callum McGregor to play an influential role in today’s win and thankfully that’s how it transpired. He was crucial in asserting dominance on the match in general but his captain’s moment to score the winner reflects just how important he is for the Bhoys.
Celtic were wasteful from distance throughout the 90 minutes but it just needed one man to show a bit of composure and pick their spot in the Aberdeen goal. McGregor’s strike was as precise as it was forcefully thumped.
Having not played competitively for over two months, this was the perfect way for him to get involved again and I can’t wait to see him help push the Bhoys on to new heights over the next few months.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou picks out the two Celtic leaders who “stood up” during Callum McGregor absence.
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