Willie Miller says Jimmy Thelin did something that’s ‘very rarely’ seen at Celtic Park before kick-off

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Celtic proved too powerful for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership on Tuesday night.

This was the fourth meeting of the two sides this season, including League Cup semi-final action at Hampden, with Brendan Rodgers guiding his side to three wins.

That included Celtic scoring five against the Dons – one goal less than they managed in November on their way to the League Cup trophy.

When Aberdeen first came to Celtic Park in October, they came from 2-0 down to record a point and there was a lot of noise around Jimmy Thelin’s men, including talk of them pushing for the title.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	28	23	3	2	82	15	67	72
2	RangersRangers	27	17	5	5	54	22	32	56
3	AberdeenAberdeen	28	12	5	11	36	44	-8	41
4	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	27	11	7	9	33	31	2	40

But then, they hit a brick wall and for months and months, they couldn’t even buy a win, before returning to Glasgow last night with back-to-back league wins to their name.

Aberdeen knew that Celtic were going to come at them with more fire and power than usual because of that abject showing at Easter Road from the weekend.

But that didn’t stop Thelin from surprising Willie Miller before kick-off.

READ MORE: Why Celtic held a minute applause before kick-off vs Aberdeen

Willie Miller on Aberdeen playing two strikers at Celtic Park

Aberdeen actually started strong, pressed high and forced Celtic into sloppy mistakes, as Thelin would have been wondering how his team didn’t open the scoring.

In the end, it was an easy win for Celtic, but Willie Miller was interested in the starting XI that the Dons boss put out before kick-off.

Thelin played two strikers – the experienced Kevin Nesbit and Palestine international Oday Dabbagh – both are on loan.

Miller stated it was ‘gung-ho’ from Thelin and how you ‘very rarely’ see an opposing manager set-up like that at Celtic Park, as he told BBC Radio Scotland.

“Gung-ho,” responded Miller to Aberdeen’s starting XI. “As far as Aberdeen are concerned, you have got to applaud it, to be fair.

“Kevin Nesbit and Dabbagh. I presume Dabbagh would be the main striker. He looks like that type of striker. He looks like that type of player. He is high in energy. He does a lot of running to close down and put the opposition under pressure from the short spells I have seen him play – Nesbit looks like he has got that instinct again.

“There is no doubt that the back four and the two sitting midfield players will be well-tested – I just like the formation. I like the message that it sending out. The message Jimmy Thelin is sending out.

“He has got two strikers on the field. You very rarely see that at Celtic Park.”

Celtic’s stats at home this season

Only Bayern Munich have beaten Celtic at home this season, as the rest of the teams on the domestic scene have felt the wrath of the champions.

In the Premiership alone, the Hoops have only conceded three times – all to Aberdeen – and have also netted 48 goals in 14 matches.

The next time Celtic are at home, they are in Scottish Cup action against Hibernian and they will want to get revenge for that defeat at Easter Road – that game takes place on March 9.

But with European football coming to a close in Munich, the schedule is going to get a little easier for the players, in terms of rest.

The Glasgow derby against Rangers will main event on March 16, before players head out for the international break.