Celtic might not have started the season in style, but they were still good enough to get a 2-0 win against an in-form Aberdeen side. An early header from Stephen Welsh and a thunderbolt from Jota in the second half, were enough to hand Ange Postecoglou’s side all three points. And that’s the most important thing.
This is just the beginning of the season and one would expect Celtic to play their way into form. They were slow starters last time around as well. In fact, they lost three of their first six league games under the management of Postecoglou.
Fortunately, the picture is very different now. That Celtic team was coming off of a trophyless campaign in which it had finished 25 points behind the Rangers. This team are the defending Premiership and Scottish League Cup champions.
In fact, Postecoglou’s comments after the game showed how high the bar is set now, as he pointed out Celtic’s wastefulness in front of goal, despite the win. As reported by the Scottish Daily Express, the manager told Sky Sports:
"“Not too bad. We started the game really well in the first half hour. We got a bit slack towards the end of the first half. Our passing got lax and we weren’t as aggressive. Second half we addressed that. Overall a dominant performance but wasteful in front of goal.“You can be patient but if the chances are there take them. I thought we were wasteful with our decision making in front of goal. We’ve got goalscorers throughout the team but it was just a bit of decisiveness we lacked.”"
Celtic will need to improve in front of goal in their upcoming games
On this occasion, Celtic were able to get away with being wasteful in front of goal. They were massively helped by the early goal from Welsh as well. Otherwise, things might have started to get more difficult as the game wore on.
At the end of the day, the Hoops should be very happy with the win and the three points but at the same time, they must also see that there are areas to improve and their wastefulness in front of goal is one aspect where they can do a lot better in the future.
There are tougher tests ahead and better teams might end up punishing them for the same, especially in the Champions League.