Benjamin Nygren came off the bench to score the winning goal as Celtic moved to second place in the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The game was rescheduled after the pitch was flooded during a game in early February, and visitors knew a win at Granite City would see them leapfrog their old rivals Rangers and move them five points clear of league leaders Hearts.
Manager Martin O’Neill decided to start Reo Hatate, who had a huge impact on his team’s turnaround with his goal against Rangers last weekend, but Kieran Tierney was the other scorer of the game, scoring early on to give Celtic the lead.
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Kieran Tierney scores his first goal of the match
Kevin Nisbet pulled Aberdeen back into the tie from the penalty spot after Liam Scales was penalized for a foul on Toyosi Orusaña in the penalty area, but substitute Nygren scored the winning goal when he headed home from close range.
Celtic move five points clear of Hearts with victory at Pittodrie.
Celtic picked up where they left off in the late draw with Ibrox and broke the deadlock after just five minutes. Luke McCowan’s corner kick gave Scales a shot in Acre’s space in the box, and an acrobatic flick-on found Tierney to push the ball into the goal from close range.
Kieran Tierney puts Celtic ahead at Pittodrie
Aberdeen were unable to get out of their own half as Celtic played with such high intensity in the early stages. Callum McGregor immediately took the lead with a sharp shot from range that was well saved by Dimitar Mitov.
Despite Celtic’s early pressure, the hosts settled into the game and scored the equalizer after referee Nick Walsh adjudged Scales to have kicked Orsanya in the back inside the penalty area.
Nisbet calmly took the penalty and sent Villami Sinisalo in the opposite direction to put Aberdeen back on par with his eighth goal of the season.
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Kevin Nisbet converted the penalty to equalize the score.
Aberdeen had kept Celtic out of their early rhythm, but the visitors had a good chance to regain the lead when Sebastian Tunekuti cut inside after a good break, but his shot went just wide.
Benjamin Nygren scores Celtic’s winning goal at Aberdeen
The home side looked to have taken the lead just two minutes into the first half when Nisbet met Mitchell Frame’s cross, but his powerful header was deflected away by Sinisalo with all his might.
Scales then had a golden chance to put Celtic back in the lead by riding the end of McCowan’s corner kick, but despite being unmarked he was unable to get his header on target.
Kevin Nisbet celebrates with teammates after scoring Aberdeen’s equalizer from the penalty spot
Martin O’Neill made a number of changes as the first half progressed and it was substitute Nygren who put Celtic back in the lead.
The Swede was preparing to slot the ball into the net after James Forrest played a smart pass across the six-yard box. VAR checked the goal for offside, but Nygren was ruled just on.
Moments later, things almost got worse for the home side as Jack Milne slipped in with the ball and Daen Maeda raced across the face of goal, but his efforts were all wrong and did not trouble Mitov.
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Benjamin Nygren scores Celtic’s winning goal
Aberdeen struggled to get out of their own half as the game progressed and Celtic could have put the result in doubt had Tunecuti fed Marcelo Saracchi late on, but the Uruguayan canceled out the effort.
O’Neill: We still have a long way to go.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told Sky Sports:
“Before the game we talked about a difficult night and I thought it was just that. We did it and won. This is a very important three points for us and at least keeps us in the hunt.”
“When we scored the goal, I felt we gave up the game and didn’t really contribute to the goal tally. Aberdeen came back into the game and Nygren scored in the second half, but I thought they should have given a penalty before that. I thought it was a handball. I saw it pretty clearly, but it wasn’t given. I had to wait a second or two to see if the goal was onside or offside, but thankfully it was onside.”
“I thought Aberdeen played strong today, but they caused us a lot of problems during the game, which we knew they were going to do. “We squandered a few chances at the end to make it 3-1, but we held on quite nervously towards the end.
Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren scores a goal to make it 2-1 against Aberdeen
“It’s our third game in six days. It was a pretty tough game, but it was a huge team effort to win tonight and it’s very important for us. We still have a long way to go.
On Benjamin Arthur, who was called up late after Dane Murray was injured in the warm-up:
“Very late. He showed some good traits in training. I think he’ll be a player in time, but this was a big game for him. If he comes on as a substitute, I think he might be able to come on at some stage of the game, but I’m not looking at just stepping into the game 15-20 minutes before kick-off. So I thought he did very well. Overall, I’m happy with him.”
On returning to Ibrox for this weekend’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Rangers:
“I’m not so sure I’ve enjoyed a game like this before. The league is off for a while, but let’s go. We’ll have a big crowd cheering us on and we don’t want to let them down.”
Leven: Aberdeen needs to be more street-friendly.
Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven said on Sky Sports:
“It’s frustrating. I thought we started well, but obviously we conceded a goal from a set piece.
“We came a little bit earlier and Kevin (Nisbet) scored. We started the second half very well. It was a great header (by Nisbet) and a good save (by Sinisalo).”
“But overall, we need to be a little more streetwise… There are some pushes that we can’t back down from and Lyall (Cameron) has to ask questions in the box at the end…
Aberdeen’s Kevin Nisbet scores from the penalty spot against Celtic to make it 1-1
“When Celtic scored that early goal, a lot of other teams would have collapsed and I thought there were a lot of positives, but at the end of the day we got zero points.
“I can’t fault the players for their effort because they never gave up and kept going until the end. We’re doing well, but we just didn’t get the breaks or the results.”
“On Saturday we are the (Scottish Cup) holders so we want to retain the title so we are looking forward to it.”
Boyd and Sutton analyze Celtic striker’s plight
Chris Sutton of Sky Sports:
“Celtic have reached this stage of the title race without a centre-forward. It’s unbelievable!”
“They don’t seem to be scoring goals, but they’re finding ways.”
Celtic’s Daen Maeda drags his shot wide against Aberdeen
Sky Sports’ Chris Boyd talked about Daizen Maeda, who has not scored in 12 games.
“This is a guy who is experiencing a lack of confidence. You can’t fault his work rate, it’s unbelievable.
“He was outstanding last season, and everything he hit went into the back of the net. This season, he’s probably going back to the Maeda he was the year before last.”
What will happen in the Scottish Premiership?
