THIS was a Celtic victory sculpted from the rock of self-belief. Although the SPL champions were some way short of their best, a combination of resolve and opportunism turned out to be more than enough to end Aberdeen's hitherto impressive unbeaten home league run dating back to the beginning of October.
Just as the mere presence of Tiger Woods can unnerve many of his rivals over the back nine of golf's most pressurised championships, so Celtic relish the knack of forcing harmful mistakes from their opponents at the business end of the domestic Scott
ish season.
This was Gordon Strachan's 200th match in charge of the Parkhead club and, significantly, he's only lost 34 of all those games. Seeking a fourth consecutive league title, both Strachan and his players were cocooned by the winning habit at Pittodrie. Even when much of their football was humdrum – the manager himself conceded the first-half display was both "insipid" and "lax" – Celtic never shirked from punishing the failings of their opponents.
Andreas Hinkel, the German full-back who set up Scott McDonald for Celtic's second goal, later made it clear he understands the mentality which separates the wheat from the chaff in those football nations where a small elite monopolise the prizes.
"If you play for Celtic, or Rangers, the biggest teams always have to think about the championship," said Hinkel.
"When you come to a club like Celtic, you have to change your mentality, because every game is about winning. That's true for all the big clubs, Bayern Munich (in Germany] or Barcelona and Real Madrid (in Spain]. Here, for Celtic and Rangers, a draw is not enough."
Missing the drive which the suspended Scott Brown usually supplies in midfield, Celtic were second best in this area before half-time.
Aberdeen were more alert and expansive in the early stages, and Jimmy Calderwood's men went ahead on 22 minutes.
Having conceded a free kick in front of the main stand, Celtic's defenders would later justify themselves at being caught out by Charlie Mulgrew's cross with the rationalisation that they expected the wind to carry the ball further than the near post. It didn't, and Chris Maguire was able to steal in front of the centre-backs and beat Artur Boruc with a glancing header.
Aberdeen were much the better side in the first half. Scott Severin might have increased their advantage at the back post from Mulgrew's corner if he'd shown more composure, while the movement of Maguire and Sone Aluko caused Stephen McManus, who picked up a knee injury before limping off, and Gary Caldwell moments of duress.
There was no doubt the outcome of the match hinged on an incident before half-time when referee Dougie McDonald awarded Celtic a soft free kick for what looked like a fair shoulder charge after Richard Foster clashed with Aiden McGeady. From the set-piece, Severin managed a clearing header as far as Caldwell, who nodded it back in to the six-yard box where Andrew Considine flummoxed Jamie Langfield with a miscued header into his own net. "I'd given him a shout but it's the defender's instinct to go for the ball and, unfortunately, it's gone over my head," recalled the Aberdeen goalkeeper.
After being handed this free pass out of jail, Celtic produced a much improved performance after the interval. They got their noses in front thanks to a decent cross from Hinkel which enabled McDonald to steal a march on Considine at the front post. Perhaps Langfield shouldn't have been beaten at his near post, but the speed of McDonald's thinking and the quality of the instant execution were both notable.
Since Aberdeen had run out of ideas by this stage – their threat ended after Tommy Wright failed to exploit a clever ball over the top from Mulgrew – McDonald's second goal only served to gild the lily for the champions.
The lack of understanding between Langfield and Considine was again exposed when the goalkeeper and the centre-back got their wires crossed.
Considine looked naïve to back off when McDonald beat him to the chase for a ball played through the inside-right channel by Shunsuke Nakamura. The Celtic striker chested the ball down and, from a tight angle, fired a low right-foot shot through the goalkeeper's legs. It was his 50th goal since joining Celtic from Motherwell and his sixth of the season against Aberdeen.
In a game where Celtic rarely moved out of third gear, it was McDonald's individual opportunism as well as the team's collective will which ensured Strachan's men will travel to Ibrox on Saturday for the Old Firm derby as league leaders. And true believers.
The full article contains 799 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
