It was a case of Captain Marvel as Callum McGregor returned to net a late winner at Aberdeen in a 1-0 victory.
His late strike sent Celtic back nine points clear at the top of the table. McGregor’s goal marked his competitive comeback to seal a hard-fought win for the Hoops as they returned from the World Cup break and saw off third-placed Aberdeen. Rangers had closed the gap with Thursday’s win over Hibs but Ange Postecoglou’s side responded with a win against a defensive Dons side.
Celtic dominated but it took a moment of magic from McGregor. It took until the final minutes but they got there as they maintained their unbeaten run in Aberdeen since 2016. There was no post-World Cup rest for Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda as they were pitched into the starting XI, while there was also a welcome return for Celtic captain McGregor. The freezing north-east conditions were also in sharp contrast to what they stepped into in the freezing and snowy Granite City.
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin had to come up with a game plan of his own to fill the void left by Liam Scales missing out, as per the terms of his loan agreement.
He went for an uninspiring defensive display. Kelle Roos was forced into a decent stop to deny Jota and then another from Reo Hatate. Aberdeen had a couple of breaks on the counter but never really tested Joe Hart in the first period. Leighton Clarkson had a free kick but it went well over.
The closest thing to a first half goal came from a McGregor long ball that allowed Kyogo to step past Roos but Dons captain ws at the front post to snuff out the danger. There was an away end scare when Joe Hart came out and completely missed Hayden Coulson’s cross but he got away with it. Celtic sent on Liel Abada for Maeda and they certainly looked more threatening.
Kyogo got on the end of a good cross and move from Anthony Ralston and Abada but disappointingly missed the target.
Abada then forced Roos into a block with his legs. Ralston crossed again and off-form Kyogo volleyed wide again. Postecoglou turned to his bench but it remained much the same.
They knocked the ball about for fun but had absolutely no threat, until Abada’s short forced Roos to tip over.
Forrest gave it inside to McGregor and he arrowed a lot shot in beyond Roos to seal this win.
CALLUM McGREGOR BACK TO LEAD
The Celtic captain had been out since October. He made his return and put in a big performance. He had been a big loss for Ange Postecoglou’s side. He makes them tick and that is exactly what he did at Pittodrie. He also came up with the all-important goal to keep his side clear in the title race.
BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR ANTHONY RALSTON?
The right-back was the only option but the competition is going to be taken up a notch or two over the coming weeks. Croatian international Josip Juranovic will return after today’s World Cup third/fourth place play-off, while new signing Canadian international Alastair Johnston will be available from January 1st when the transfer window opens. It was a game where he was rarely troubled defensively and he spent most of the game on the front foot. Much tougher challenges lie ahead both in-house and on the pitch for Ralston. Certainly, if Juranovic doesn’t move in January and Johnston and Juranovic are also fighting for the jersey.
SCALES REPLACEMENT?
Jim Goodwin went with a five man defence in an attempt to fill that particular void.
It was the polar opposite from the approach that Goodwin had adopted at Ibrox, where they had gone for it and come off very much second best. Aberdeen’s approach basically surrendered the lion’s share of possession to the visitors, but for all the ball that Celtic had they did very little with it.
The move shut the back door but it hardly brought a lot in terms of excitement for the watching Red Army. They camped in and invited pressure and in the end that lack of ambition cost them any chance of a point.
