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An easy win for Celtic who showed 4 changes since the Juve game. Momo Sylla had a great game showing a lot of trickery on the ball and delivering good early crosses. His dribbling skills led to the first goal when he was brought down by Anderson. An impeccable delivery by Thomson was met by Larsson who sprung up to head home. The first goal didn't come until the 65th minute but it was inevitable. The first half was a story of missed chances and last ditch clearances. Early on Sylla dribbled to the bye-line. His cross was cut out by the keeper and fell to Larsson, but the keeper charged down Henrik's attempt. The second rebound fell to Petrov who shot well wide. Tebily then ventured upfield, turned inside and struck a powerful shot which went wide of the post. Hartson was looking sharp, controlling the ball well and showing a bit of trickery to beat defenders. He set up Larsson inside the box and Henrik's powerful shot was blocked well by Essen. 2 corners on the right allowed Hartson to show his heading ability. The first was cleared by Mackie who was covering the post; the second was blocked by McNaughton right on the goal line. In the second half big John slid in to meet a great curling cross from Thomson to see his shot go just past the post. Henrik threatened as always and was linking up well with Hartson. A diving header late in the first half from a Sylla cross just hit the outside of the post. He was at his spring-heeled best with his goal and despite blootering one free kick well over the bar was involved in the second goal. Alan Thomson did his bit in the game with 2 shots saved by Essen and one header which he put wide under pressure from a defender. His touch with the cross ball which had deserted him on Tuesday against Juventus had certainly returned with his corners and free-kicks causing havoc in the Aberdeen defence. Stan was industrious as always and tenacious in possession. When he does surrender possession he usually falls over winning a fair percentage of free-kicks. He had a couple of shots at goal but finished off with a stunning strike from a free-kick which was virtually a carbon copy of his goal against Dundee. Thomson had just been fouled by Tiernan at the edge of the box. Henrik feinted to roll the ball to Petrov and when he did the strike was so hard and accurate into the area covered by the keeper that Essen had no chance. Aberdeen set out to avoid sustaining a heavy defeat but they were beaten comprehensively and with a bit of luck it could quite easily have been 4 or 5 nil. Check out the Gossip section for more on this game. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Tebily; Sylla, Thompson, Lambert, Petrov (Healy 90), Petta; Hartson, Larsson (Maloney 82). ABERDEEN (4-5-1): Esson; McAllister (Anderson 61), Whyte, McAllister, Solberg (Dadi 85); Winters (Thornley 67), Young, Tiernan, McGuire, Mackie; Zerouali. |