Aberdeen 1 – 2 Celtic

Benjamin Nygren came off the bench to score the winner as Celtic moved up into second place in the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

This fixture was re-arranged after a waterlogged pitch put paid to the game in early February and the visitors knew a win in the Granite City would see them leapfrog Old Firm rivals Rangers and move five points behind league leaders Hearts.

Martin O’Neill decided to start with Reo Hatate who scored and had been so influential in his side’s comeback against Rangers at the weekend but it was Celtic’s other goalscorer from that game who gave them then the lead here when Kieran Tierney struck early on.

Kevin Nisbet pulled Aberdeen back on level terms from the penalty spot after Liam Scales was penalised for fouling Toyosi Olusanya in the box but it was substitute Nygren who was the matchwinner when he prodded home from close range.

How Celtic moved five points behind Hearts with Pittodrie win

Celtic picked up where they left off in that late draw at Ibrox and broke the deadlock after just five minutes. Luke McCowan’s corner picked out Scales in acres of space in the box and his acrobatic flick-on found Tierney who prodded the ball into the net from close range.

Aberdeen could not get out of their own half with Celtic playing at a much higher intensity in the opening stages. Callum McGregor went close shortly after the opener with a stinging effort from range which was well held by Dimitar Mitov.

Despite Celtic’s early pressure, the hosts did settle into the game before getting their equaliser which came from the spot after Scales was adjudged to have kicked through the back of Olusanya in the box by referee Nick Walsh.

Nisbet stepped up to send Viljami Sinisalo the wrong way with a cooly taken penalty to get Aberdeen back on level terms with his eighth goal of the season.

Aberdeen had knocked Celtic out of their early rhythm, but the visitors did have a good chance to regain their lead when Sebastian Tounekti cut inside after a good break, but he drove his effort just wide.

The home side thought they had taken the lead just two minutes after the break when Nisbet got on the end of Mitchel Frame’s cross, but his powerful header was tipped over the top by Sinisalo at full stretch.

Scales then had a great opportunity to nod Celtic back into the lead when he got on the end of McCowan’s corner but, despite finding himself unmarked, he couldn’t direct his header on target.

Martin O’Neill made a host of changes as the half wore on and it was substitute Nygren who put Celtic back in front.

The Swede was on hand to poke the ball into the net after a clever delivery across the six-yard box from James Forrest. VAR checked the goal for offside, but Nygren was adjudged to have been just on.

It nearly got worse for the home side shortly after that when Jack Milne slipped in possession allowing Daizen Maeda to run through on goal, but he got his effort all wrong and never troubled Mitov.

Aberdeen struggled to get out of their own half as the game wore on and Celtic could have put the result beyond doubt in the latter stages when Tounekti fed in Marcelo Saracchi, but the Uruguayan blasted his effort over.

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