Aberdeen 1 - 1 Celtic: Makeshift Celtic side drop first points since October

Though Celtic tried to make it sound as though they were tremendously disappointed with a draw, this, in fact, was another profitable result and a better outcome than many in the large travelling support might have expected upon learning how their team would line up.

Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, later complained about a “dance version” of Auld Lang Syne, belted out by some wedding reception band, interrupting his sleep on the eve of the match. Yet his starting XI had an even more left-field feel about it. Playing Charlie Mulgrew in the centre of midfield was experimental in the extreme.

Indeed, Aberdeen were within their rights to feel slightly offended by Lennon’s decision to tinker so significantly with his side. To hand one full-back a debut is fair enough, but to hand two full-backs their first game in the same fixture could be viewed as foolhardy, particularly against a team intent on defending an unbeaten start to the year, just as Celtic hoped to extend a winning one. In the end, Lennon’s side were thwarted in this aim. Even though defeat was avoided, the visitors, according to defender Thomas Rogne, were re-acquainted with how it felt to be on the end of a reversal. “Right now it feels like a defeat because we lost points,” he said. “We are not familiar with this feeling for a while – it’s a bad feeling.”

Lennon submitted some compelling reasons for making such wholesale changes. Several of his players had endured arduous journeys back from fulfilling international friendly commitments in midweek, while one, Ki Sung -Yueng, remained in transit come kick-off. For those who had made it back to be expected to be in optimum condition at midday on Saturday in Aberdeen did seem unreasonable, although Rogne – who only had to negotiate a trip from Belfast, where Norway were in action – was not as keen to dwell on this as his manager had been.

“You don’t want to put up excuses,” he said. “Obviously some players came back Thursday night, or Friday. It’s not ideal. But we know we can do better than this. The manager has kept us on our toes and made sure there is no complacency. It’s an off day. Sometimes it happens. It had nothing to do with not being motivated.”

If the changes had weakened Celtic, it wasn’t immediately apparent. Andre Blackman and Mikael Lustig took up their posts on either side of the back four, and though the latter looked frazzled by the pace of the game at the start, the former, at only 20 years of age, appeared to settle more quickly. It helped that Celtic were in control, and that Aberdeen had no-one to really test either full-back – or, at least, initially lacked the belief to do so.

This is something which Craig Brown, the Aberdeen manager, commented on later, and might be one reason why his side are struggling to turn draws into victories. Having managed to get back on level terms on Saturday, the surge in confidence coursing through the hosts was almost palpable. It didn’t help propel them to a win, however. Instead, Aberdeen had to be content with a seventh draw in their last eight league games. Whether this particular point, satisfying though it was to have earned it, helps towards their ultimate aim of a top-six place remains to be seen. “The home draw two weeks ago [against St Johnstone] was frustrating,” Brown noted. “This draw is acceptable because it is against the best team in the league.”

Some eyebrows were raised when Brown replaced striker Rory Fallon with a midfielder/defender in Youl Mawene near the end. However, while Aberdeen fans would have liked to see their side push for victory, it would have been utterly galling for them to have to suffer a defeat. Mawene helped snuff out any chance of Celtic claiming the goal that would have preserved their winning run. Teams have had to simply endure games with Celtic since October, when Hibernian drew 0-0 at Parkhead. Celtic have emerged victorious from every league game since and looked set to win this one at a canter when Anthony Stokes put them in front after half an hour. The goal had its origins in a neat pass from Kris Commons, another who might not have expected to start.

Stokes took an exquisite first touch which helped take him round ‘keeper Jason Brown, and rolled the ball into the net from a tight angle. On the evidence of what had occurred in the previous 29 minutes, no-one had reason to be surprised at this development. It seemed only a question of how much more intense could become the delight of the away supporters, who had already got themselves into a state of frenzy as they celebrated both Stokes’ opener and the worsening plight of their administration-hit rivals. Aberdeen silenced them on the stroke of half-time with a goal out of nowhere. Gavin Rae’s strong running was a feature of the afternoon and he fastened on to a ball from Scott Vernon, with Lustig posted missing in the right-back area. It wasn’t the sweetest of strikes from the midfielder, nor the most accurate, but a deflection off Blackman meant the ball ended up in the net.

Understandably, since he has waited 34 years to score his first goal for the club he supported, Rae insisted afterwards that he deserved to be credited with the strike. However, he later recanted via Twitter. “Och alright, got to try though,” he wrote. He grudgingly accepted that his attempt at goal might have ended up nearer the corner flag if not for a willing young full back’s attempt to extinguish the danger. Instead, Blackman only managed to make things worse.

It was a damaging moment for Celtic, who failed to reach the heights after the interval and, indeed, could have fallen behind when the impressive Rae threaded a pass through the Celtic defence. Mitch Megginson could not apply the finish such a fine through-ball deserved, however. The player snatched at his shot, something which Brown attributed to a lack of experience.

But, in truth, Aberdeen had to be satisfied with a point. And, although they were making noises to suggest otherwise afterwards, Celtic, too, were able to take the positives from the trip north, even if not everything had gone entirely to plan.