Scottish Premiership
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday, February 27, 2021

CELTIC… 1
(Edouard 8)

ABERDEEN…0

John Kennedy marked his first game in charge of the Hoops on an interim basis with a win today (Saturday), as Celtic overcame Aberdeen 1-0 at Paradise in the Scottish Premiership. The home side dominated play for much of the game, but, despite a late insurgence from the visitors, Odsonne Edouard’s eighth minute strike made the difference on the day.

The match started with great intensity, as both sides moved the ball well from the back, up and down the pitch. Four minutes in, Aberdeen gleaned the first clear-cut opportunity of the half when Ash Taylor forced a top-class one-handed reaction save from Scott Bain, moments after the Dons had headed off the crossbar.

Celtic used this scare as impetus to kick-start their own stretch of possession play, which ultimately led to their opener. Ryan Christie was devastating on the counter attack, picking the ball up inside his own half, driving at the Dons backline, and slipping the ball inside to Odsonne Edouard on the edge of the box. The Frenchman steadied himself 18 yards from goal, before firing off a shot that was deflected beyond Joe Lewis into the net.

Despite going down, Aberdeen stepped out from the back in search of an equaliser, forcing a series of routine saves from Bain at range.

David Turnbull and Callum McGreogor threatened regularly for the Hoops, before Jonjoe Kenny sent a sublime ball into the path Patryk Klimala from the right flank on 19 minutes. At full-stretch, the striker couldn’t connect and the danger was sent clear.

Over the half-hour mark and Celtic continued to play neat one-touch football all over the pitch, despite struggling to break down a deep-lying Aberdeen defence. On 30 minutes, Ryan Christie curled a neat left-foot effort just over the crossbar, while Edouard struggled to get his shot away inside the box five minutes after that again.

One in front at the break, the home side returned to press the game in the same aggressive manner. Derek McInnes’ men in turn defended well, organised in their play and stifling Celtic’s advances at every turn.

As the second half wore on, and as the pace of the game begun to slow, much of the play was consigned to the middle of the pitch, with neither side creating much in front of goal for long spells. On 56 minutes, Laxalt did well to block the breaking Kamberi down his left side, while, at the other end, the full-back paired well with substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi as the Hoops sought to double their lead.

Despite a handful of late half-chances – not least when Odsonne Edouard was blocked inside the box in the closing stages, missing out on a pass to his colleague Ismaila Soro, in yards of space to his left – the scoreline remained 1-0 until the final whistle.

All told, a worthy win for the Hoops as they now prepare for Dundee United at Tannadice next Sunday, March 7.

CELTIC: Bain; Kenny, Ajer, Welsh, Laxalt; Brown, Christie, Turnbull (Soro 78), McGregor; Edouard, Klimala (Elyounoussi 65)
Subs not used: Hazard, Duffy, Griffiths, Ajeti, Henderson, Montgomery, Ralston

ABERDEEN: Lewis; Hoban, Considine, McGinn (McGeough 90+2), Taylor, Hayes, McLennan (Kennedy 77), Ferguson, Kamberi, Campbell (Hendry 60), McCrorie
Subs not used: Woods, Logan, Ross, Virtanen, MacKenzie, Duncan

Website Man of the Match: Kris Ajer

Early Odsonne Edouard strike seals Aberdeen win at Paradise