Rogic Wonder Strike Secures Celtic Victory Over Aberdeen

Celtic had one mission on its trip to Aberdeen — get three points and put the title nearly out of reach. That happened, as the Bhoys rode a first half wonder strike from Tom Rogic to a 1-0 victory over the Dons.

The win put Celtic a full 10 points clear of second place Aberdeen with a game in hand. The win also stretched the club’s unbeaten SPFL start to 10 matches.

Celtic struggled to find a second goal, as Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis stood on his head to deny quality chances from Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Rogic. The visitors hit 16 shots in total, with Celtic holding a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Alas, just one of the chances went in to the back of the net and thanks to a powerful possession game there was little doubt that it was a deserved win for the Hoops.

However, that was far from the biggest storyline of the match thanks to some dreadful officiating and plenty of missed chances to put this game away from the Bhoys.

That awful officiating started early, as defender Eric Sviatchenko was given an early and highly debatable yellow card, setting the tone for a largely frustrating first half for Celtic.

It continued throughout the match, as Aberdeen racked up 19 fouls and only one yellow card for any of those fouls. However, it was a shock decision after an altercation between Scott Brown and that was totally telling.

Following Brown punting a ball right off of an Aberdeen player on the ground, Aberdeen’s Hayes responded by punching Scott Brown and dropping him to the ground.

The action happened right in front of the official, who rightfully gave Brown a yellow card for his action. Yet, Hayes escaped with just a yellow card for his violent conduct.

It was an incident that highlighted the inconsistencies and awful decision-making of the official on the day.

Aberdeen’s gameplan was clear from the get-go, looking to frustrate final passes and do whatever was necessary to disrupt Celtic’s flowing play.

That worked for nearly 23 minutes of the match, until Tom Rogic gave the crowd something to really marvel at. After controlling a ball at the top of the box, Rogic took a poke with the outside of his left boot. It surprised Aberdeen’s defense and the keeper was caught flat-footed as Celtic took the 1-0 advantage.

The Dons did have moments to make Celtic worry in the first half, sustaining some pressure on the back line of the Bhoys for a good 5 minutes at once. However, the hosts couldn’t turn a small advantage in corner kicks (2-1) in to anything in the first half.

Celtic held a major advantage in possession, leading Aberdeen 61 to 39 percent on the ball in the half.

After being largely frustrated in the final moments of the build up in the first half, Celtic found much of the same in a second half that was marred by ugly play from Aberdeen and another five minute stretch of danger from the hosts.

Craig Gordon was up the challenge when called upon though and a few key saves saw another clean sheet for the in-form keeper.

Celtic will next travel to Germany to take on Borussia Monchengladbach in a re-match of a 2-0 defeat two weeks ago at Celtic Park.