Aberdeen 0 Celtic 1
There might be nothing capable of blowing Celtic’s relentless pursuit of a fourth consecutive Premiership title off course now. Not even a north east monsoon.
For 78 minutes Aberdeen looked to have stumbled upon the most effective tactic yet. The heavens opened, the wind howled in from the North Sea and the champions were forced to navigate some choppy waters.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. On a night when football was rendered a farcical impossibility by awful conditions, one moment of quality from Reo Hatate was enough to widen the gap at the summit of the Premiership to seven points and allowed Rangers to close the gap on Jimmy Thelin’s second placed team to four points.
There were 14 minutes to play when the game’s decisive moment arrived. A half-time replacement for Alex Valle, Greg Taylor lifted his head in the middle of the Aberdeen half and picked out Hatate’s run with a lofted pass.
On a night when high balls were ill advised and over-hit, this one finally found its target. With one swipe of his right foot the Japanese midfielder rolled a clinical finish past Ross Doohan in the Aberdeen goal.
Defender Nicky Devlin played Hatate onside, a poor piece of positioning condemning the Pittodrie side to their first home defeat of the season and four games without a win. Substitute Ester Sokler passing up a glaring chance to equalise when he blazed over the bar from close range after Cameron Carter Vickers’ superb block. Two draws and two defeats and suddenly all that heady talk of title race feels misplaced. Normal service is restored.
Reo Hatate fires home the all-important winner for Celtic
The Celtic midfielder wheels away to celebrate with his team-mates
Brendan Rodgers savours a statement win for his team
The first time in 23 games Celtic had failed to score twice or more, one was a satisfactory outcome for Brendan Rodgers in the end. Surviving a test of character, nerve and – most of all – conditions, the champions pretty much placed one hand on the league trophy.
It was also the first time Celtic have won 10-in-a-row on the road since a run between April to November in 2017, and this campaign looks likely to end much the same way now.
Despite a better night at Ibrox for Rangers, Celtic’s city rivals remain 11 points behind and have Aberdeen in their sights in the race for second. That might be as good as it gets.
Despite a 2-2 draw at Parkhead in their last league game, Aberdeen have now failed to beat Celtic since May 2018, when Derek McInnes was manager.
Four bosses have come and gone since, and Thelin’s hopes of stopping the rot were hardly helped by the loss of first-choice goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov for six weeks. In his place came Ross Doohan, the former Celtic keeper producing a couple of fine saves as Celtic pushed for a winner. Regrettably for Aberdeen he couldn’t stop the one that mattered.
In a first half when the farcical conditions made it difficult to play football, hypothermia posed a bigger threat to the Dons keeper than a Celtic attack who failed to click.
Having said that, the keeper took one on the face from Hatate as they raced for a 50-50 ball, and it looked a worrying knock for a while until he thankfully got to his feet and carried on.
Thrashed 6-0 the last time these teams met, Aberdeen set out to do a job on their opponents. They pressed high and hard from the first whistle, snapping into challenges. Coupled with the weather, the visitors have had more enjoyable nights.
Hatate savours acclaim of travelling support after his 78th minute winner
Celtic’s most famous fan Rod Stewart enjoyed match with Dons chairman Dave Cormack
The home team carved the best chance of the first half after 11 minutes. A raking ball over the top from Sivert Nilsen picked out Duk.
Running at Valle – how far this must have felt from Barcelona for the young full-back – a low thumping strike was blocked by the legs of Kasper Schmeichel. The rebound fell to Kevin Nisbet, the striker smacking the ball wide. He should have scored.
Celtic failed to settle or pose their customary threat until the final minutes of the half. When Daizen Maeda got in behind them and over-hit his cross it was becoming that kind of game.
Forcing a series of corners, Celtic settled. When Paulo Bernardo swung his first into a crowded area, Alistair Johnston’s downward header looked to be creeping in until Jamie McGrath turned it round the post.
Bernardo tried again, his second corner curling straight into the net before Don Robertson blew for an obstruction on keeper Doohan by Maeda. When the whistle sounded for half time, the teams sought the warmth and respite of the dressing rooms. You suspect the players would have called it there and then.
One of four first half bookings, Valle was spared any more of the ordeal, Taylor taking his place at half-time.
Aberdeen had done an efficient job of keeping Celtic’s main attacking threats quiet. Kyogo Furuhashi had scored five goals in his last five league appearances, but the team in red gave him barely a sniff. Nicolas Kuhn looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else on the planet until he had half a chance after 55 minutes and curled a left foot strike a foot over the crossbar. Celtic had yet to given Doohan a save to make.
Schmiechel had hardly been overworked either, it should be said. His side struggled to pose much attacking threat themselves, Jimmy Thelin felt compelled to act. In Ester Sokler and impact sub Shayden Morris he introduced two players with a track record of causing Celtic problems.
The introduction of Adam Idah and Luke McCowan was an acknowledgement from Brendan Rodgers that his side needed a spark to break Aberdeen down.
Give the home side this much. Their defending had to be heroic at times. Blocks from Slobodan Rubezic and Graeme Shinnie prevented Alistair Johnston scoring before Doohan finally had a save to make when he pushed Hatate’s strike round the post.
When the keeper sprang to his right to keep out an Idah header it began to look like one of those nights for Celtic.
Had Leighton Clarkson hit the target instead of slashing a glorious chance wide it just might have been. As the wind howled and the rain tumbled down, Hatate produced the one moment of the quality in the game to smash the ball pash Doohan for the game’s only goal.
