Celtic returned to action today after Tuesday’s chastening defeat in Madrid and unlike myself they seemed to have bounced back quickly from their trip to Spain. While it has taken me a few days to recover from both the stinking hangover and the effects of a horrible cold I picked up along the way, the players responded with aplomb, putting on a wonderful show at Celtic Park today as they rather ironically handed out their own 6-0 demolition.
Today’s opponents Aberdeen were coming off a satisfying performance during midweek where they managed to claim an away point against Greek side Paok, handing them a boost in confidence as they travelled away once again, this time to the home of the Scottish champions.
We know by now that former Celt Barry Robson likes to set this Aberdeen side up defensively and we could clearly see this from the team sheet as he started with a 5-4-1 formation that could have proved tricky to break down. Pre-match all I could think was that an early goal could be vital in this game as the longer they shut us out the more restless the crowd would get. Thankfully that’s exactly what transpired.
With 9 minutes gone, Celtic took the lead and the goal came from the man trusted to fill the boots of Daizen Maeda as he recovers from that innocuous tackle that not only ended our challenge in Madrid, but also robbed us of one of our most important players for the next few months.
Yang’s opener surprising came from a header, something we probably wouldn’t expect from our Korean winger but it was very well taken all the same. As good as the finish was the cross from Luis Palma was even better. A sign of things to come from the Honduran. Scoring such an early opener was so important and we never looked back in all honesty.
The second didn’t take too long to come after Yang’s opener. The young winger was involved yet again this time starting the move with a lovely through ball to Matt O’Riley who then squared in for Kyogo who was left with an easy tap in.
At this point it looked like the Dons could be in for a long day but surprisingly Celtic, even though they continued to dominate the rest of the first half, let them off the hook as the visitors managed to make the changing rooms only two goals down.
Their respite didn’t last long however as this hungry Celtic line up came straight out of the traps again in the second half picking up where they had left off. It wouldn’t be until the 77th minute however until we finally killed them off.
This goal came after substitute striker Oh, who came on for the injured Kyogo, was felled in the box and even though referee Willie Colum failed to spot it at the time it was given after a VAR check. Clearly the correct decision by the way even though Kris Boyd tried his best to disagree. Up stepped Luis Palma who netted a fantastic penalty and with it should now be handed the honour of main penalty taker in this side as our success rate from the spot has been embarrassing of late. Palma never looked like missing, and that’s coming from me who usually hates that stalled run up penalty action!
After this the floodgates opened as Aberdeen struggled to see the game out. David Turnbull got his name on the scoreboard with yet another fine effort from outside the box, making him our joint top goalscorer for the season which is a fine achievement. The assist was once again provided by Palma who seemed to be revelling at the task of taking on this Aberdeen defence today.
A few minutes later he was at it again, this time providing a world class, pinpoint, outside of the boot cross which handed Oh with the simple task of heading in for his first goal of the game. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet you have to check it out, it really was a thing of beauty.
We weren’t done yet however as we made it three goals in stoppage time as Oh showed yet again that people who said he wasn’t Celtic standard don’t know much about the game of football.
A fine ball through from Matt O’Riley saw the Korean take the ball in and make a break for goal, showing great composure as he waited for the goalkeeper to make his move before buring it beyond him. Oh is a young man at the very start of his career who has moved abroad for the first time and is improving constantly. People need to give him a chance because I think he can become a big talent in the future.
All in all today was a wonderful way to bounce back from the disappointment midweek against Atletico.
I was worried we could struggle mentally after being on the end of such a beating but this team proved once again that their mentality is second to none by not only claiming the win today, but by putting in an all round fantastic performance that the fans will really have enjoyed.
I do believe that the scoreline midweek was solely down to the harshest of harsh red cards and had it not been for it we would have pushed Atletico all the way. It didn’t make us a bad team over night and today proved as such.
Before I finish I have to pick out some of the players for special praise today starting of with Luis Palma. If he continues to put in performances such as the one we saw from him today it won’t take long for us to forget all about Jota. He really was unplayable.
The next one is Yang who got that all important opening goal and had a hand in the second. He was a menace throughout and is another one like Palma and Oh who is showing us what he is capable of now he has settled in to his new life half way across the world. The last one is Matt O’Riley, who was incredible yet again.
He has been an absolute revelation this season so far and some of the touches and intricate passes he provided today were beautiful.
Our overall play is steadily progressing week by week and you can see the stamp Rodgers is putting on this squad. It’s finally looking like a Brendan Rodgers team. We have a few injuries at the moment but the competition for places is still extremely high. One or two top recruits in January in certain positions would make this a really strong Celtic team. Let’s hope our manager gets the money to do so. But that’s for another day…
Conall McGinty
