Scottish PremiershipSaturday, October 19, 2024Celtic Park, Glasgow CELTIC… 2(Hatate 24, Kyogo 27) ABERDEEN… 2(Sokler 50, Shinnie 60) There was nothing to separate Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park today as both teams played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in what was a tale of two halves to remain tied on the same points total at the top of the table. With just under 15 minutes played, Arne Engels almost opened the scoring in sensational style after Aberdeen keeper, Dimitar Mitov struggled to get back to his line after losing the ball just outside the box. Engels shot from the angle of the area looked to be dipping in, but it crashed off the top of the bar. A few moments later, Engels threatened again, this time his shot from the edge of the area curled just wide of the post. The Celts continued to apply pressure, with Nicolas Kuhn causing problems for the Dons’ defence on the right wing with his consistent movement and pace. With 20 minutes played, Callum McGregor picked up the ball in the middle of the park and began driving towards the Aberdeen penalty area. The captain, who has been in goal-scoring form so far this season tried his luck with a shot from distance which rose just over the bar on this occasion. The opening goal came a few minutes later when some brilliant link up play between Nicolas Kuhn and Arne Engels allowed Engels to play a long ball forward which was picked up by Kyogo. The forward cut the ball back towards the penalty spot where Reo Hatate was on hand to smash the ball home and give the Celts a one goal lead. In the 27th minute, it was the provider of the first goal, Kyogo, who doubled Celtic’s lead. Daizen Maeda’s ball in to the box found its way to Reo Hatate, whose shot ricocheted off of an Aberdeen defender and in to Kyogo’s path. The striker calmy slotted the ball in to the bottom corner to give Brendan Rodgers’ side a firm grip of the match. Aberdeen found opportunities hard to come by in the opening half hour, but with 35 minutes on the clock, they found themselves with a big opportunity to take the lead after a good challenge from Trusty resulted in the ball breaking in to the path of Leighton Clarkson, who had an open goal. His shot, however, was halted on its way to goal by Alex Valle, whose crucial intervention prevented Aberdeen from grabbing a goal back. In the dying minutes of the first half, Aberdeen looked determined to gift the champions a third goal. The Dons’ keeper delayed on the ball, allowing Daizen Maeda to shut him down and win it back for the Celts. His lay off to Nicolas Kuhn was perfectly weighted but the winger’s strike, which looked destined to find the back of the net, was blocked by an Aberdeen defender to keep the scoreline at 2-0 going in to the break. Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin made two changes at half time, bringing Sokler and Duk on in an attempt to breathe some life in to their forward line. Sokler made an instant impact, scoring less than five minutes in to the half to drag his side back in to the game. In the 58th minute, Topi Keskinen took advantage of a slip from Alex Valle and thundered forward with the ball. The Aberdeen forward thought that he had time to pick his spot and have a shot on goal, but Liam Scales turned on the afterburners and showed great pace to get back and make a challenge which brought an end to the Aberdeen attack. Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie equalised for the visitors in the 60th minute with a shot from the edge of the area which deflected in to the net. The visitors, buoyed by their two early goals in the half, continued to look for opportunities and in the 70thminute, they thought they had taken the lead after Duk forced the ball in to the net from close range, but a VAR intervention showed that there had been a handball in the build-up and the goal was ruled out. The decision to chop the goal off gave the Celtic faithful a lift, and the noise level inside Celtic Park rose as the home support tried to spur the Celts on to victory. James Forrest almost gave the Hoopd the lead in the 87th minute when he spun in the box and got a strike on goal, however Mitov was able to keep it out to keep the score level. The second half was played in segments for the most part, with Aberdeen looking to slow the pace of the game down by forcing stoppages in play whenever they could. This resulted in an additional 10 minutes of stoppage time being played at the end of the 90. James Forrest had another opportunity in the 92nd minute, however his left-footed shot drifted wide of the far post. Celtic had the ball in the net in the 94th minute but the referee judged that Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah had fouled the Aberdeen keeper and the goal was ruled out. The final few minutes of stoppage time were as tense as they were frantic, with the Celts creating several opportunities which were kept out by a resolute Aberdeen defence. There was a VAR check for a possible penalty to Celtic right at the death, but no penalty was awarded and the referee immediately blew for full-time, with the match ending 2-2. Brendan Rodgers and his team will now turn their attention to the Champions League as they prepare to face Atalanta in Italy next week.
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