| Match Pictures | Matches: 2018 – 2019 | 2018-19 Pictures |
Trivia
- Boxing Day/St Stephen's Day football match.
- Possibly will be the most entertaining roller coaster match of the season.
- Celtic go three points clear of Sevco (who drew 1-1 with Hibs), and Celtic have game in hand. Win on Saturday then Celtic can go 9pt clear if win game in hand.
- Celtic on 42pts with 19 games played.
- Crazy game. Aberdeen awarded two penalties, with the second definitely not a penalty. Many Celtic fans say first shouldn't have been a penalty too.
- Aberdeen came back twice to equalise, then scored a late consolation goal but Celtic hung on to win,
- Ten mins to go (as Sevco) kicked off an hour later as Celtic game was on BT Sport TV, it seemed like a disaster for Celtic.
- Sinclair scored a hat-trick.
- Edouard the hero, came on as a sub and totally took the game by the scruff of the neck, set up goal for Sinclair and scored a sublime goal himself.
- Tierney out injured.
- Ref Willie Collum was again underfire. He is out of his depth. Aberdeen players should have had reds, errors on penalties etc.
- Hayes was subbed on and did very well as left-back and down the flank.
- Sevco game kicked off at 3pm, Celtic game at 2pm. During the game looked like Sevco would leapfrog Celtic in the league. Hibs scored a very late equaliser in their game which sent all outwith of Ibrox into raptures thru Glasgow.
- Aberdeen had been on a run to this game; Sam #Cosgrove had scored six goals in four games, #Aberdeen had been up to second and there had been a 16 point swing between the Dons & #Hearts in the last eight weeks, incredible run but its what they've consistently done for years now.
- PSG’s young striker Timothy Weah could be on his way to Celtic Park after the 18-year-old emerged as a January transfer window target
- Celtic wonderkid prospect Karamoko Dembele has set his sights on the Celtic first-team after signing his first full-time professional contract at the age of 15.The highly-rated midfielder joined Celtic at 10 years old in 2013 and made his Under-20s debut against Hearts in October 2016.The deal ties him to the Scottish champions until at least 2021."It means a lot to me to start my professional career at Celtic," he told the official Celtic website.I came here at a young age and, after all the stuff me and family have been through together, it'll be good to make them proud."My goal is to play for the first team. As soon as I can, I'm going to try to get into the first team, 100%."
- Hearts boss Craig Levein continues war of words with Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes: “I get fed up with Del being a d***, eh?"
- Tragedy in SE Asia: Tsunami off of Indonesia kills few hundred people. Our thoughts are with those affected. RIP
Review
Brendan “The scoreline doesn’t reflect how well we played. We had control for most of the game. Our play was good v a team who man mark you. Disappointed with their second penalty. Graeme (Shinnie) will look at that and out himself forward (laughing) for the diving team”.
Brendan: “A really pleasing performance. We showed great energy. A very big three points. Have to wait and see with Kieran. It looks likely he’ll be good for Saturday. We can’t wait for the weekend”.
phenomenal 20 minute spell from Odsonne Edouard earlier today, the one criticism I've had about him is he very seldom takes a game by the scruff of the neck, particularly when it's most needed however today he showed exactly what he can bring to the table, sublime.
(El Salto of KDS)
Great result but a disjointed performance
Aberdeen are a bunch of plastic hardmen who seem to get allowed carte blanche to "unsettle" our creative players
May was spoken to twice before he was booked for persistent fouling, Ferguson was another who's offences seemed to go unpunished
When they weren't kicking us they were going man to man and sitting in
I don't think either of the two penalties should have been given, although the first was borderline
The second was blatant cheating, both by the player and the official
McGinn should have saw red in the first half, ridiculous that he only got a yellow
All of our goals were superb, but the one we lost late on was poor defending
Edouard, Sinclair and Hayes can be proud of their displays, but too many others were off it, namely Rogic, McGregor and Forrest (for the most part)
Great to hear McInnes whingeing again, and always good to hear those Northern hun bastards screaming for perceived injustices on the pitch, when in
reality there was only one team getting screwed over.
Onwards to Mordor.
(BMH of KDS)
BR on – very important three points
scoreline doesn't reflect the game
Disappointed with the second penalty – graham looking to get into British diving team
Quality of goals was outstanding
He’s happy with the performance as well (being kind I think)
Long season – great result on back of Aberdeen’s run
Wait and see if KT is fit – things Hayes speed and recovery is good for us
We win with humility – delighted for supporters – close out what has been a great year for us
Teams
Aberdeen
- 1Lewis
- 2Logan
- 4Considine
- 5McKenna
- 3Shinnie
- 21Ball
- 19Ferguson
- 27McLennan
- 17MayBooked at 52mins Substituted forWilsonat 76'minutes
- 10McGinnBooked at 38mins Substituted forWrightat 45'minutes
- 16CosgroveBooked at 90mins
Substitutes
- 7Forrester
- 8Gleeson
- 9Wilson
- 15Wright
- 20Cerny
- 24Campbell
- 25Anderson
Goals
- · May (24' minutes pen), Cosgrove (83' minutes pen), Ferguson (90' minutes)
Celtic
- 1Gordon
- 23Lustig
- 20Boyata
- 32Benkovic
- 3Izaguirre Substituted forHayesat 45'minutes
- · 8Brown
- · 18Rogic
- · 49Forrest Substituted forAjerat 89'minutes
- · 17Christie
- · 42McGregor Substituted forEdouardat 70'minutes
- 11SinclairBooked at 90mins
Substitutes
- 15Hayes
- 21Ntcham
- 22Edouard
- 29Bain
- 35Ajer
- 56Ralston
- 73Johnston
Goals
- Sinclair (6' minutes, 76' minutes, 88' minutes),
- Edouard (86' minutes)
Referee:
William Collum
Attendance:
20,027
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
MOTM
- Voting Thread
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Home Team
Aberdeen
Away Team
Celtic
Possession
Home35%
Away65%
Shots
Home8
Away12
Shots on Target
Home4
Away7
Corners
Home2
Away3
Fouls
Home17
Away14
Articles
Aberdeen 3-4 Celtic: Scott Sinclair hat-trick sees Hoops edge festive thriller
RONNIE ESPLIN
Published: 16:45 Wednesday 26 December 2018
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/aberdeen-3-4-celtic-scott-sinclair-hat-trick-sees-hoops-edge-festive-thriller-1-4848858
A Scott Sinclair hat-trick helped Celtic to a 4-3 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Aberdeen in a thrilling game at Pittodrie.
The winger put the Hoops ahead after six minutes but that advantage was cancelled out in the 24th minute when Dons forward Stevie May scored from the spot, after Emilio Izaguirre had clattered Niall McGinn.
Brendan Rodgers’ side deservedly took the lead again in the 76th minute when Sinclair converted a James Forrest cross but in the 83rd minute Derek McInnes’ side drew level again from the spot through Sam Cosgrove, but substitute Odsonne Edouard made it 3-2 before setting up Sinclair for his third.
Lewis Ferguson reduced the deficit again in the 90th minute to set up a tense three minutes of added time but the visitors took the spoils to remain top of the table before their final game of the year, a trip to Ibrox to play Rangers on Saturday.
Rodgers rang the changes with Craig Gordon, Scott Brown, Mikael Lustig, Ryan Christie and Dedryck Boyata returning.
Dons boss McInnes was without injured defender Max Lowe, with Dominic Ball coming in and skipper Graeme Shinnie moving to left-back – and he had to reconsider when Celtic struck early.
Christie sent midfielder Callum McGregor racing down the left and his cross to Tom Rogic was cut out by Ball but only to Sinclair who fired in from 10 yards for his 50th Celtic goal.
Shinnie then moved to midfield, Andrew Considine switched to left-back and Ball moved to centre-back and midway through the first-half the Dons drew level.
Referee Willie Collum had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after Izaguirre took out former Celt McGinn inside the box as he crossed a pass from defender Shay Logan which had left Celtic chasing to get back, with May confidently slamming in the penalty.
Izaguirre was replaced by ex-Don Jonny Hayes at the break while Scott Wright took over from McGinn and Celtic began to exert pressure on the Pittodrie defence, who were forced to remain disciplined and resolute.
Aberdeen were being pinned in their own half although there was a penalty shout in the 66th minute when Brown tangled with Dons midfielder Connor McLennan inside the Celtic penalty area but this time Collum waved play on.
Three minutes later Edouard replaced McGregor and Celtic continued to dominate the ball.
Lewis pushed Christie’s 30-yard free-kick past the post for a corner which came to nothing but the Aberdeen keeper was beaten all ends up when Forrest went past Considine and crossed for Sinclair to volley in from six yards.
Has Brendan Rodgers identified his first January target? Picture: SNS Group
The home side threw everything forward and when Lustig was adjudged to have pushed Shinnie as he raced into the box, Cosgrove hammered in the spot-kick.
However, there was much more drama to come.
When Edouard got the break of the ball at the edge of box he chipped into the net and there was time for Sinclair to grab his hat-trick when the French striker cut the ball back for Sinclair to slide in from six yards.
Then Ferguson knocked in a McLennan corner to make it 4-3 but the home side ran out of time.
BBC
By Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland
43 minutes ago From the section Scottish Premiership
Scott Sinclair scores
Scott Sinclair took his season's tally to nine
Scott Sinclair completed his hat-trick amid a spell of four goals in the final seven minutes as Celtic beat Aberdeen to move three points clear of Rangers before Saturday's Old Firm derby.
Sinclair twice put Brendan Rodgers' side in front from close range.
But Stevie May and Sam Cosgrove scored penalties in each half to level.
Substitute Odsonne Edouard chipped in Celtic's third and set up Sinclair for a fourth, before Lewis Ferguson's late consolation.
Five of the seven goals came in the final 14 minutes as the reigning Scottish Premiership champions secured a fifth successive win at Pittodrie.
And his team have a game in hand over city rivals Rangers, who drew at home to Hibernian, while Aberdeen slip to fourth in the table.
Reaction & Boxing Day action as it happened
Who did you rate man of the match?
Goals galore on Boxing Day
Sinclair had been the difference when the sides last met in the Premiership, before Ryan Christie netted the winner in this month's League Cup final – and both players played a big part in the opening goal.
Christie's chipped pass released Callum McGregor in behind Aberdeen's defence and though his cross bounced off Dominic Ball, Sinclair was perfectly placed to profit.
It was from a similar move that the hosts pulled level. Niall McGinn got beyond Celtic's defence to latch on to Shay Logan's lofted pass and was taken late by Emilio Izaguirre after delivering a cross. May blasted the resulting spot-kick right down the middle.
Edouard, who had missed the weekend win over Dundee, took over from McGregor and the striker's pass inside Andrew Considine found Forrest, whose cross was turned in by Sinclair.
But Aberdeen came back again with Graeme Shinnie going down after being closed down by Mikael Lustig, the defender penalised for a push, and Cosgrove confidently converted.
Edouard received Forrest's pass and held off two defenders to lift the ball over Joe Lewis.
And the Frenchman weaved his way past Ball and Logan to get to the bye-line and provide the cut-back for Sinclair's tap into an empty net.
Celtic looked home and dry but there was to be a further twist as Ferguson turned in Connor McLennan's corner and substitute James Wilson volleyed Aberdeen's final chance over.
Odsonne Edouard scores
Edouard had a hand in three of Celtic's four goals
Rodgers faces big calls in derby – analysis
BBC Scotland's Tyrone Smith at Pittodrie
The Christmas dinners have long since disappeared, but the victory at Pittodrie has given Rodgers plenty of food for thought going into the weekend trip to face rivals Rangers.
Edouard came off the bench and made a huge impact. Rodgers admits he is not fully fit, but after that cameo he has surely done enough to justify a start at Ibrox?
Also, a big question remains about who will play at left-back – two players, Emilio Izaguirre and Jonny Hayes, played the role in Aberdeen but Kieran Tierney is their main man and Rodgers, who says he is monitoring his progress by the day, will be keeping his fingers crossed the Scotland international is available to play some part in the derby.
As for Aberdeen, they gave it their all, and while disappointed at the outcome, Derek McInnes was happy with what his side offered up – and will be confident that their first defeat in five games will not knock them off the very positive path they have been on in recent times.
'Celtic quality came through' – reaction
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "The physical effort from the players was outstanding. At 2-2, the game's finely poised. The fourth goal's the one that kills us.
"My team showed exactly where they've been of late, went toe-to-toe with a good team. To score three goals against a team like Celtic should be enough to get something from the game."
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "I don't think the scoreline quite reflects our performance and maybe the gap in the game. We wanted the three points and we got that. We certainly had to work for it.
"The last 15, 20 minutes the game started opening up for us. Our quality then came through."