Celtic’s draw with Aberdeen has certainly raised a talking point in Scottish football after Jimmy Thelin earned a creditable draw at Parkhead over the weekend.
At 2-0 down, many expected to Aberdeen crumble and Celtic to go on and win convincingly, especially after the run of results the Bhoys have recorded over the Pittodrie club recently.
But as Thelin inspired Aberdeen to a Celtic Park fightback, talk now turns to whether or not the Hoops have a challenge from The Reds for the title this season.
Michael Stewart’s ‘too early’ verdict on potential Celtic title challengers
Aberdeen and Celtic are the only two remaining teams that are unbeaten domestically this season. So when Jonathan Sutherland asked Michael Stewart if they are now ‘realistic’ title contenders, the BBC pundit was not getting carried away.
Stewart said on Sportscene, “Look, it’s far too early in the season to start talking about things like that, but what it does do is it certainly brings an element of excitement and intrigue, because it’s the biggest challenge that Aberdeen have had this season.
“And they came out of that test with flying colours. To be 2-0 down at halftime, with all the, what you would imagine is the negativity that would be flying around for them to come back with that second-half performance and get 2-2.
“And obviously, the third goal that was chalked off as well, looking like they were going to be getting a victory, quite an incredible performance and turnaround.
“So, too early to suggest they’re going to be a title contender, but certainly I see them being a lot closer to what were the top two last season than third place has been for a long time.”
When pressed on whether Aberdeen could finish in second place, Stewart said, “Again, it’s too early to say.”
The last time Aberdeen ran Celtic close for the Scottish Premiership title
Many Celtic fans will remember the last time Aberdeen offered a creditable challenge to Celtic for the league title.
Aberdeen finished as runners-up to Celtic four times during the 2010s as Rangers tried to make their way up the leagues.
In 2014/15, Derek McInnes took Aberdeen to within 17 points of Ronny Deila’s Celtic and the following season he managed to close that gap to 15.
However, the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in 2016 blew Aberdeen away and whilst they still finished second, they did so with a whopping 30-point gap.
2018/19 saw Aberdeen get a bit closer to Celtic but Rodgers still retained the title nine points ahead of McInnes after the Hoops drew an incredible 10 games that season.
Can Aberdeen mount a serious challenge this year? The acid test will be where they stand after going head-to-head with both Dundee clubs and Rangers in the next few weeks.
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