Pat Bonner believes he saw a “different side” to Celtic in their 2-1 win against Aberdeen at Parkhead yesterday.
Hoops fans were used to swashbuckling displays on their home turf at the start of the season. However, there was no real chance of that happening yesterday with the visitors closing up shop after the equaliser and putting 10 men behind the ball for the most part.
Even so, goals from Jota and Callum McGregor did the trick. Celtic managed to see the game through comfortably in the closing stages with Stephen Glass’ men coming nowhere near an equaliser.
Celtic looked the more likely to make it 3-1, but didn’t over-commit as they settled for the victory and another morale-boosting display. And as he reacted to the way in which Celtic looked to see the game through, Bonner believes they showed something new.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Bonner said: “I think they showed a different side today. Some of the fans may come away and think “we have to get the 3rd goal, we’ve got to go for it, we need to be on the front foot all the time”. I don’t know how the manager will react if that question was asked. But I thought, looking at James McCarthy in the middle of the pitch, he likes to get his foot on the ball, he likes to slow the game down a little bit.
“They almost managed the game out and that’s what I was referring to. Maybe for about 20 minutes, maybe even half an hour, they went into that mode. After the second goal, there was almost a calming of it down, passing the ball and keeping control of it, knocking it around and forcing Aberdeen to come onto them so they could play it around them.
“So they didn’t actually go Gung-ho, and that will be an important situation that fans will be able to look at and say ‘well, is that something else they’re adding to their game”. I think it is. You don’t need to go and win by 3 or 4 every game.”
Celtic got the job done against Aberdeen with minimal fuss
It was clear that Celtic weren’t going forward in an overly-attacking manner in the closing stages. That’s despite the fact Ange Postecoglou’s philosophy has always been to attack for the full 90 minutes.
However, even so, it was a relief to see us manage the game out effectively. In recent months, particularly in Europe, we’ve thrown away vital leads that should’ve been held on to. Even domestically, we’ve allowed games to get messy due to some poor game-management from the team.
Celtic didn’t halt their attacks against Aberdeen after the second goal. They still looked to get forward and notch a third. Jota hit the post for example with a late chance whilst the Hoops were constantly probing around the visiting side’s penalty box.
However, in the end, we settled for what we had. We didn’t push the defenders high up whilst McCarthy and McGregor were both playing in a more reserved role to stop any counter-attacks.
In the end, everyone left happy with Celtic managing to secure the 3 points. That was the all-important goal, especially after Rangers had put Livingston to the sword just a few hours previously.
Hopefully, we continue to feel the momentum as we head over to Celtic vs Hearts on Thursday night.
In other news, “There’s nothing wrong with that”; Celtic boss slams idea Aberdeen win was lucky
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