A decent first half showing saw Celtic re-emergence for the second 45 minutes with a 1-0 advantage. The first chance to alter that scoreline came when Callum McGregor drove into the box and squared for Turnbull. All virtual pass viewers must have been waiting for the net to bulge, but incredibly the midfielder managed to pass up the opportunity from five yards.
MORE: Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen: Half Time Analysis
Neil Lennon altered the structure of his team on the hour mark, reverting to a 4-2-3-1 formation and replacing Albian Ajeti with Tom Rogic. It was another quiet evening for Ajeti as the game passed him by, but the change may have been made in response to Aberdeen introducing an additional striker, when Derek McInnes brought Connor McLennan on for Jonny Hayes.
Chances were few and far between by the mid-point of the second half. With that in mind, Celtic made another change and Scott Brown was tasked with injecting some energy into the midfield. The skipper came on for Ismaila Soro, who looked displeased as he left the field. Moments later, that substitution was countered by the Dons, who took Matt Kennedy off for former Celtic winger Niall McGinn.
It would be fair to say that there were more substitutions than talking points on the park. Indeed, Patryk Klimala and Moi Elyounoussi came on for Turnbull and Edouard in the 80th minute. Then, it was Aberdeen’s turn to make a change as another ex-Celt, Dylan McGeouch took the place of Dean Campbell.
Ryan Christie produced a speculative lob in the 81st minute, which landed on to the roof of the net. As the 90 minute mark approached, Klimala had an opportunity but he was smothered by the goalkeeper.
That was the height of the excitement. The game wasn’t very pretty, but it delivered Celtic’s fifth successive victory. The gap slightly narrows at the top, the Hoops now trailing theRangers by 15 points.
