Celtic Continues Winning Streak with 3-1 Victory at Pittodrie: Match Highlights and Analysis
The sun was shining on Pittodrie Stadium as Celtic took on Aberdeen in a Scottish Premiership clash that would see the Hoops continue their winning start to the season with a 3-1 victory.
The match began with a poignant tribute, as both sets of supporters paid respects with a minute's applause to the late Aberdeen and Scotland manager Craig Brown. Then, the action got underway, with Celtic looking to extend an unbeaten run at Pittodrie that stretched 14 games since the 2015/16 season.
The opening goal came from Celtic's Liel Abada, who tapped home after Daizen Maeda headed Matt O'Riley's free-kick across goal. A lengthy VAR check was needed to award the goal, as the assistant referee had originally flagged for offside on Abada.
Aberdeen responded with determination, and Bojan Miovski found the equalizer on the 25th minute, capitalizing on a long ball from Jack MacKenzie and a precise pass from Duk. But Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi quickly restored the lead with a lethal finish, pouncing on a poor header back from Nicky Devlin.
Chances continued to fall to either side, with Abada and Dante Polvara coming close. Celtic dominated possession, and their attacking prowess was on display, with Kyogo and Daizen Maeda threatening to extend the lead.
Aberdeen fought back, with Leighton Clarkson sending a shot just wide, but it was Matt O'Riley who sealed the victory for Celtic, slotting home from eight yards out after a perfect pass from substitute Hyunjun Yang.
The match was not without its concerns for Celtic, as Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate were forced off early due to injury. Manager Brendan Rodgers commented on Carter-Vickers' injury, saying, "Hopefully he's ok. He felt his hamstring a little bit so we just have to assess that and we didn't want to put any risk on it." Regarding Hatate's substitution, Rodgers explained, "Reo coming in was just a tactical tweak, I thought there was a lot of direct balls in the first half and we weren't getting around the second ball. He's quite tenacious in there so we brought him into the game but he felt a little issue in his calf so we'll see how that is in the next couple of days."
Aberdeen Starting Lineup: Roos, Devlin, Rubezic, MacKenzie, Morris, Clarkson, Shinnie, Duncan, Polvara, Miovski, Duk
Celtic Starting Lineup: Hart, Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Nawrocki, Taylor, O'Riley, McGregor, Turnbull, Abada, Kyogo, Maeda
Celtic's victory sets them on a positive path as they defend their League Cup with a trip to Kilmarnock next Sunday.
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