Five things we learned from Aberdeen 0-3 Celtic

Dedryck Boyata keeps a close eye on Stevie May as Celtic dominated proceedings at Pittodrie. Picture: SNS Group

There’s just no stopping Celtic

There was no hint of fatigue in the Celtic ranks despite a third game in a week and Aberdeen just couldn’t cope with the marauding Kieran Tierney, a back-to-his best Moussa Dembele (who grabbed his second brace in as many matches) and a Celtic rearguard eager to keep a clean sheet after shipping five goals in two games against Bayern Munich and Hibs. Even with a makeshift defence - Nir Bitton again partnering Dedryck Boyata in the middle - Celtic didn’t ever look uncomfortable.

Tierney should be Scotland’s first choice left back

Tierney opened the scoring and laid the ball on a plate for Dembele to score his first and Celtic’s second. The boyhood Hoops fan makes it all look so effortless. While there’s no doubting Andrew Robertson’s talent, he’s not playing regularly enough for his club to justify a regular starting berth for the national team and Tierney’s consistently impressive performances for Celtic mean he has a real claim to be the first choice left back for club and country. Rodgers has taken to playing him further up the park, and he demonstrated his attacking prowess particularly in the first half. It would seem cruel to curb his talent on the national stage by constantly playing him out of position just to fit him into the starting line-up.

Aberdeen were strangely flat

On paper, this should have been Celtic’s toughest match so far this season, at least on the domestic front, but the game was never really much of a competition thanks to Tierney’s early strike. Once they were a goal up, Brendan Rodgers’ men strolled the game, adding a second and a third at will, with Aberdeen chasing shadows for much of the evening. The home side rarely troubled Craig Gordon in the Celtic goal with Adam Rooney a virtual spectator up front and substitute Greg Tansey coming closest for the Dons with a raking drive that flashed wide of Gordon’s left hand post midway through the second half. Scott Wright offered a spark of energy when he came on as a second half substitute but too many Aberdeen players will feel they didn’t perform to the best of their abilities.

Christie was a big miss for Aberdeen

Ineligible against his parent club, Ryan Christie had to sit out the match, and Aberdeen’s midfield suffered from his absence. While he would have been unlikely to have much of an effect on the final outcome, Aberdeen missed his industry in the middle of the park, his energy and his eye for a pass. Derek McInnes admitted after the match that the Dons had missed Christie in the midfield but suggested that, when Celtic play like they did, there’s very little that can be done to stop them.

Rodgers has some choices to make ahead of the Bayern game

Brendan Rodgers raised eyebrows with his decision to leave both Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair on the bench as he went with an attacking midfield trio of James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor, but his selections didn’t let him down as Celtic dominated proceedings. He has choices to make ahead of Bayern’s trip to Glasgow - Dembele will almost certainly start up front - but the performances of Rogic and Forrest especially will have given him food for thought.

Roberts was singled out for praise by the German press following the match in Munich, and with Rodgers insisting he won’t abandon his attacking philosophy for European games, the clash with Bayern should be an intriguing encounter.