Celtic thrash Aberdeen but mindless fans spoil show - player ratings as star performer would have Strictly judges purring
It was a case of the dazzling, the deficient and the desperate as Celtic dished out a 6-0 drubbing at home to Aberdeen that exposed levels, the filleting of the Dons following their own embarrassment by the same scoreline in midweek to Atletico Madrid.
In the first bracket were Yang Hyun-jun and Matt O’Riley, two players with which the Pittodrie men simply could not live as they were overwhelmed from the early minutes …and lost three goals across ten minutes of added time. The South Korean winger Yang – taking over from the long-term injured Daizen Maeda – was whip smart as he bagged his first goal for the club. The swiftness and sleekness in his at-will sashaying past defenders in the opening period resulted in a first half showing of the sort to have Strictly judges drooling. O’Riley, in turn, pulled the strings to have the Aberdeen midfield in knots as the Scottish champions helped themselves to a two-goal lead in little over quarter-of-an-hour.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBarry Robson’s men then provided the second category in the encounter’s tagline, simply through being so second best. It was never a fixture that offered much hope of different, mind you. Their admirable exertions in the 2-2 draw with POAK, two days after their opponents’ Champions League chasing, suggested it might be shootie-in for Brendan Rodgers’ men on a mission for some footballing therapy.
As for the dismal, the Celtic support – even sans Green Brigade – can be guaranteed to provide that when it comes to the minute’s silence on Remembrance Sunday. The club’s tannoy announcer couldn’t have made it more clear – in talking of all those lost in conflicts, the violence currently scarring the world, and the call for peace – that this sober reflection was as much for those Palenstinians who are being killed in Gaza, than any who have died wearing a British uniform. As some in the standing section shamefully disrupted the silence by singing and waving Palestinian flags, it wasn’t just irony, but listening that seemed lost on the disruptors.
The mood as quickly changed by Celtic’s immediate menace, Luis Palma up there with Yang and O’Riley, in providing that. The ninth-minute opener was the product of his burrowing down the right and sending over a fizzing cross that Yang met powerfully to head in. The South Korean was then central to the 16th-minute pinball pulling apart of the visitors’ backline that earned the second, firing through to O’Riley for his cutback to be clipped in at the near post in typical Kyogo Furuhashi, eh, fashion.
The striker was then lost to a hellish cementing by Slobodan Rubezic minutes into the second period, but it was his replacement Oh Hyeon-gyu that was pivotal to a pounding becoming an utter pasting. Referee Willie Collum missed the forward being cleaned out in the box by Jack MacKenzie but VAR didn’t for a 70th minute award battered in by Palma. Then came the late, late show, substitute David Turnbull scoring, as he does, by lashing in a low drive from the edge of the area, that found its target via the base of the post. This 92nd-strike was followed by Oh bundling in on 96 minutes then racing through to a ball over the top and emphatically hammering past Kelle Roos in the final seconds.
Player ratings
Celtic: Hart 6; Johnston 6; Carter-Vickers 6; Scales 6; Taylor 6 (Bernabei 77, n/a); O’Riley 8; McGregor 7 (Iwata 81, n/a); Holm 5 (Turnbull 52, 6); Yang 8 (Forrest 77, n/a); Furuhashi 8; Palma 7.
Aberdeen: Roos 6; Devlin 4, Gartenmann 4, Rubezic 4, Jensen 4, MacKenzie 4; Polvara 4 (Duncan 78, n/a), Clarkson 5, Shinnie 5 (Barron 81, n/a), Hayes 5; Miovski 5.