Celtic 0 Aberdeen 0
CELTIC threw away a magnificent opportunity to take a double digit lead at the top of the Premiership and in doing so lost their 100% domestic home record.
Aberdeen were dogged defensively all afternoon and limited Celtic to precious few opportunities to score.
Mikey Johnston who came on at the interval with Odsonne Edouard had probably the best chance to win the match but he fluffed his effort. Joe Lewis also did well to frustrate Edouard when he found some space.
Celtic thought they’d broken the deadlock just before the interval when Ewan Henderson swung in a free kick from the right hand side and Kris Ajer powered his header past Lewis into the roof of the net. But a flag went up to curtail the celebrations.
Scott McKenna impressed in a game that Celtic huffed and puffed but created very little.
Neil Lennon probably will look back on his first match back at Celtic Park and think he made a mistake in not having Edouard on from the start.
Scotty Sinclair was anonymous in the first half and it was a surprise to no-one when he didn’t reappear after the interval.
The loss of the likes of McGregor and Christie on top of the longer term injured – the likes of Ntcham and Rogic – finally caught up with Celtic.
The Bitton Brown combo in central midfield was pedestrian with a Bitton looking more like a sweeper and keen to play in that role more than the offensive game that the likes of Christie can bring to the team.
Craig Thomson frustrated the crowd with his decision making – he even won a tackle for Aberdeen in the first half.
Dedryck Boyata got the Man of the Match from the sponsors, while others worthy of pass marks would include Toljan, Ajer and Brown but not many more.
Aberdeen were at their best to earn a point and they could provide stuffier semi-final opponents than the Rangers and on today’s showing they are going to be a tough nut for the Rangers to crack on Tuesday.
Dens Park is next and we go there with our right point lead restored. It could have been ten though.