Aberdeen 0 – 1 Celtic

Callum McGregor returned from harm to fireside Celtic 9 factors clear on the high of the Scottish Premiership desk as his late strike earned a 1-0 victory over a cussed Aberdeen aspect.

Ange Postecoglou’s aspect loved domination of issues at a chilly Pittodrie however seemed to be dropping two factors regardless of having 81 per cent possession and producing 30 wasteful photographs.

Yet on try quantity 31, McGregor lastly broke Aberdeen’s resistance – which noticed the hosts fail to report a shot heading in the right direction as a result of their need to sit down deep and absorb strain – by firing in from the sting of the field on 87 minutes for Celtic’s 2 hundredth objective underneath supervisor Postecoglou.

Aberdeen, who had been booed off at full-time, sit 20 factors behind Celtic in third place, with this loss representing solely their second residence defeat of the season.

How Celtic discovered a approach to win (once more)

McGregor had been out with a knee harm since October, however his instant return to the beginning line-up meant the champions had been practically at full power for his or her first sport again after the World Cup. Only Josip Juranovic continues to be in Qatar for Croatia’s third-positioned play-off tie with Morocco on Saturday.

The various proper-again choice was Anthony Ralston, whose early shot was blocked effectively within the Aberdeen field, with Matt O’Riley blasting the rebound over from the unfastened ball.

Jota went nearer for Celtic a couple of minutes later, curling a shot in the direction of the highest nook after chopping inside from the left however Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos was equal to the strike.

At the opposite finish, Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes gained a harmful free-kick for Aberdeen in spectacular trend, operating from the sting of his personal field to the opposite earlier than being hauled down by Cameron Carter-Vickers. Leighton Clarkson may solely hearth the useless ball state of affairs over Joe Hart’s crossbar, in what ended up being one in every of solely two photographs produced by the hosts.

But again got here the Celtic offensive, as Reo Hatate’s snapshot contained in the field was heading into the underside nook and needed to be palmed away by Roos. Kyogo Furuhashi then rounded the Dutch goalkeeper after being performed in behind by McGregor, however Anthony Stewart was on the road to chop off his effort from a decent angle.

For the second interval, Postecoglou introduced on Liel Abada for Daizen Maeda at half-time and the ahead had a direct influence. The Israel winger was performed via within the field by Ralston and squared to Kyogo for a easy faucet-in, however the Japan ahead put the trouble vast in baffling trend.

That second sparked a flurry of Celtic possibilities, with each Hatate and Jota blazing over from the sting of the field and Abada seeing a close to-submit snapshot saved by Roos.

Celtic’s efficiency down the appropriate continued as Ralston discovered Kyogo within the field, however his acrobatic effort flew vast. Moments later, Jota’s cross discovered Greg Taylor on the again submit – however the left-again blasted his first-time strike waywards.

Postecoglou introduced on the industrious Giorgios Giakoumakis for goalscoring inspiration, as he flicked on to fellow substitute David Turnbull – who fired straight at Roos – whereas the Greece ahead noticed a free header within the field fly over with 5 minutes left.

But McGregor’s fizzing effort from the sting of the field flew previous Roos on the far submit to spark jubilation within the Celtic away finish and an enormous sense of reduction for Postecoglou, Kyogo and firm.

Postecoglou: We ought to have gained extra comfortably

Celtic supervisor Ange Postecoglou chatting with Sky Sports:

“I can’t remember a game where we were more dominant, and we probably should have won more comfortably. It’s a difficult place to come to and the goal came later than usual. It’s a credit to the lads, they were really disciplined and never got frustrated.

“It’s actually pleasing. There was one shot [for Aberdeen] proper on the finish, however we dominated the sport. It’s straightforward to sit down there and complain however the lads have the power and the drive to dictate the tempo of the sport. There had been some good possibilities that they normally put away.

“We did well without McGregor but he’s a fantastic footballer and we’re super happy to get him back in the side. I thought he was really impressive today, dictated play from the middle of the park. He was never too anxious about us not scoring. That’s who Callum is, he’s a fantastic footballer and we needed that today. He kept the foot on the accelerator just the right amount.”

Goodwin: Aberdeen did not do sufficient with the ball

Aberdeen supervisor Jim Goodwin chatting with Sky Sports Football:

“We were disappointed at the end, to have contained Celtic until the 87th minute. We went with the gameplan, tried to deny them space in behind. We frustrated them and hit them on the counter for large periods.

“It’s a little bit of a disappointment however total, we did not have sufficient possession, did not do sufficient with the ball after we had it. We defended simply wonderful and did not get caught out a lot. It was selected a 25-yard strike on the finish.

“I can’t say Celtic weren’t the better team. They were. But we did well and have nothing to show for it.”

Player of the Match: Callum McGregor

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