Celtic's 1970s Brazil impersonation twists knife amid sardonic chant and the ultimate Rangers insult

A run which started back in July against Queen of the South came to a crashing halt at Hampden. The wheels of Jimmy Thelin’s Aberdeen bandwagon might not have come off at the national stadium but they buckled alarmingly.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was just how much of a surprise it seemed. Defeat, the first of Thelin’s tenure, was always possible of course. But the manner of it came as something of a shock. Celtic were home and hosed and able even to laugh at themselves by half-time.

Some slapstick was provided by the sight of Brendan Rodgers slipping when trying to kick the ball back onto the pitch. The Celtic manager got up, raised his hands into the air in acknowledgement of one for the bloopers reel and then received a yellow card from smiling referee Kevin Clancy for preventing Aberdeen taking a quick throw-in.

Brendan Rodgers can see the funny side as he slips during Celtic's win over Aberdeen. | SNS Group

It might even have drawn a smile from the most ardent Aberdeen fan although any such good humour was being severely tested by full time, by which time Celtic had added another three goals to make it 6-0. Man-of-the-match Daizen Maeda completed his hat-trick five minutes before the end following a move involving around six players, including nutmegs and back-flicks, that was reminiscent of 1970s Brazil.

It said everything that while the game’s kick-off was delayed by as many as 13 minutes due to smoke from fans’ pyro displays, Clancy played just six seconds extra at the end of the second half despite several interruptions for substitutions. There were no complaints at such mercy being shown to Aberdeen.

Still, a sardonic banner from Celtic fans reminding them that “at least you still have the Northern Lights” was probably not the consolation required by those wearing Aberdeen colours. Preparing such droll statements was a better use of these supporters’ time than an elaborate pyro exhibition prior to kick-off. On a still night in the south side of Glasgow, the smoke refused to clear from the national stadium.

The players were left to kick balls around amongst themselves. Celtic dealt considerably better with the delay than Aberdeen, who were three down after 40 minutes.

Daizen Maeda celebrates his hat-trick goal and Celtic's sixth against Aberdeen. | SNS Group

Nothing was necessarily over then of course. Aberdeen had only to look back a matter of a couple of weeks to gain some succour. Trailing 2-0 at half-time against Celtic at Parkhead, they enjoyed a resurgent second half to draw 2-2 and keep that unbeaten run going for another week.

This, though, did seem like another matter. A cup semi-final, the national stadium and a nine-match losing run at the venue against the same opponents all seemed to spell out trouble for Aberdeen.

A third goal for Celtic from the rampant Maeda five minutes before half time did seem to have taken the tie away from them. This conclusion was confirmed three minutes after the interval when the same player tapped in number four. "Are you Rangers in disguise?" chorused the Celtic fans. Ouch. Nicolas Kuhn curled in a fifth off the bar and we’d not even played an hour. Game over though there was a delay to rule on a suggestion it might have been offside. It wasn’t. Aberdeen’s misery was not even complete but many of their fans in the 47, 544 crowd reached the verdict that this was the point where they had seen enough. Their stoicism was admirable since the game was up long before this.

It already looked like being a long night ahead when Kyogo Furuhashi thrashed in Celtic’s second off the bar in 32 minutes following unselfish work from Maeda, who had set off like Roadrunner after picking Slobodan Rubezic’s pocket in midfield. Cameron Carter-Vickers had headed in the opener in ominously straightforward fashion from Arne Engels’ corner three minutes earlier. Aberdeen were already in a hole and this time they looked incapable of digging their way out of it.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin watches on. | SNS Group

Celtic, on the other hand, were utterly relentless. While a strong Jamie McGrath challenge on Kyogo had appeared to set the tone and an interesting Sivert Nilsen v Engels battle seemed set to be developing in midfield, these observations were just words written in a notepad in the final analysis.

Hopes for a cup classic willed by the neutral faded long before half-time. Not that the Aberdeen fans should lose faith in their team. It might have been a poor night but there are plenty of opportunities to be redeemed, including when the same opponents visit Pittodrie in just over a month’s time. "We will still win the league!", or words to that effect, the impressive number of Aberdeen fans left at the end chanted. The challenge has been set.