What a performance! And on a crap pitch too Gordon! Seriously though Celtic again sought to consolidate their title challenge and again reduce the deficit to 4 points and they managed it with some aplomb! Anything less than a victory could have catastrophic effects on their title challenge and Celtic recovered from what looked to be a shaky start before taking the game by the scruff of the neck.
Aberdeen had pressed us early on and the normally dependable Artur Boruc (note to messers Crocker and Booth - the Celtic Goalies surname is BORUC, not BORITZ or BORUCS but BORUC and is pronounced Bo-rich) decided to be charitable to Aberdeen by aiming every kick-out directly at their midfield and almost gifted them a goal with a weak one-handed punch, but Celtic slowly started taking the game to the Sheep and the inevitable first goal came.
Aberdeen were left exposed when Barry Nicholson had to leave the field for treatment and Celtic took full advantage of this by probing down the right flank through McGeady. His cross was 'dummied' (or most probably missed) by Big Jan and Nakasan ghosted in at the back post for the first of the day.
The second came soon after when player of the season Aiden McGeady cut inside and unleashed a perfectly placed drive into the right hand side of Jamie Langfield's goal. Celtic and McGeady in particular looked in the mood now and when McDonald was felled in the box and converted the penalty for his 22nd goal of the season the game was well and truly over as a contest.
Into the second half and McGeady produced the move of the game that truly defined just how far this young player has come. Since adding an end product to his game Aiden has the ability to produce moments that not only defy logic and then peter out, they usually result in a goal. Aiden found himself in possession at the edge of the six-yard box, produced one of Zidane's tradmark 360's and then delivered the type of cross that has become Aiden's trademark. That high hanging ball that takes the keeper right out of the game and all Skippy had to do was make contact and the game was over. This goal will not be far away from goal of the season when the accolades are given out in MAY (not January Orcs).
The decision to take off McDonald when he was one goal away from a third hat-trick is a baffling one that I am not going to dwell on at this stage, although I for one am glad that the extended highlights of McDonald heading to the bench never yielded the type of scenes they were hoping to inspire, nothing to see here Setanta.
Georgios Samaras, the player who looks like a cross between Aston Kutcher, Tommy "T-Bone" Lee and Freddie Mercury came on and almost burst his way into the box only to be crudely felled. He never made much more of a contribution in a game that was starting to lose its momentum. Samaras will have better days in the Hoops as he struggled to make an impact in this one.
And then the spotlight changed to another new Bhoy, Barry Robson. This signing was not without scrutiny amongst the support,with many unsure as to where he would slot into the team. When he came on for Nakamura it would appear that he would be making his debut in his favoured (and only) position of the left of midfield, only for Strachan to switch him onto the right! Again I am too positive today to dwell on minor issues like this.
And so it was, Naka goes off just as we get a deadball situation on the edge of the box, but all was not lost as Barry coolly rounded off an impressive 63 seconds in the Hoops with a debut goal from the free kick! Doo duroo duroo doo, Barry Robson!
So it will be two Mondays in a row where Timdom can walk into work with their heads held high, and some baffling decisions aside (I haven't even mentioned the introduction of Killen yet) it was a great day at the office. Let us hope that there are many more great days to come!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt