Celtic 3 - 2 Aberdeen: Celtic show off title credentials

CHAMPIONSHIPS are won on days like this, a day when Celtic found themselves in mortal danger, trailing 2-1 to two sudden and delicious sweeps of Charlie Mulgrew's left foot, the second a free-kick of Nakamura-esque quality, a free-kick that shook the ground under Gordon Strachan's feet. The cavalry appeared in an instant, Aiden McGeady and Scott McDonald galloping into the fray, Strachan, as shell-shocked a figure as one of the near-60,000, watching on.

McGeady and McDonald joined Georgios Samaras and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in the front-line. Heavy duty strike-force now. The heaviest Celtic can muster. Too heavy for Aberdeen as it turned out. McGeady was the catalyst for a huge win, sprinting away down the right to set up McDonald for the equaliser with a dozen minutes to go and repeating the trick for Vennegoor of Hesselink to grab the winner (and his second) in injury time. All the while, Jimmy Calderwood was having kittens on the touchline. Poor Jimmy, he suffered like hell. Even at 3-2 Aberdeen could have levelled it when Darren Mackie was through a desperately weak Celtic defence. One-on-one with Artur Boruc, Mackie put it wide. Oh, the pain in the Aberdeen dugout.

"Enthralling" and "awesome" were the first words out of Strachan's mouth later on. "From a coaching point of view, it was not easy," said the Celtic manager, "but for the fans, we try to entertain and we try to win and we achieved both of those things. Aberdeen, unfortunately, didn't achieve one but achieved the other by playing football the right way."

Calderwood felt his team didn't deserve to lose and he was right. When you're lying seventh in the league, drained of confidence and feeling sorry for yourself, you don't really want to come to Celtic Park. When you're lying seventh in the league and you've just been hit by four first-half Kilmarnock goals in midweek, you could think of better grounds to visit than Parkhead. When you're lying seventh in the league and the natives are getting restless, getting to thinking that maybe there's no way out of it for you this time, the east end of Glasgow is not where you want to be. During the week, Calderwood talked up the land-of-opportunity aspects of a trip to Celtic but he looked as if he needed this fixture like a man hanging off the edge of a cliff needs an itchy nose.

But Aberdeen made it hard for them. Dug in and almost dogged it out. Enterprising going forward, Celtic were heavily vulnerable at the back. Glen Loovens is a decent defender but the authority of his Cardiff days has not yet been transported to Scotland. Stephen McManus was no great rock beside him either. Villarreal won't need a roadmap to figure out the route to glory in Tuesday night's Champions League tie.

They'll think about Celtic's attack as well, though. Nothing wrong it, nothing at all. They were ahead after 14 minutes when Aberdeen gave the ball away cheaply and Samaras ran through two rapidly retreating Dons. That was the beginning of it. In the penalty area now, the ball broke free, Scott Brown seizing on it before turning his pass into Vennegoor of Hesselink. A shot off the outside of the boot, past Jamie Langfield and cue Calderwood on the touchline holding his head in his hands and a big angry expression on his face. Cue furious pointing and shouting and general thunder from the Aberdeen manager. Cue haunting memories of Rugby Park.

Aberdeen responded well, some bite entering their performance. Samaras remained a menace but they bottled up Shaun Maloney well and Shunsuke Nakamura wasn't exactly a dominant figure either. Until he got the winner, Vennegoor of Hesselink was quiet.

The visitors had bits and pieces in front of the Celtic goal. Trying to be too elaborate in the beginning, they learned and became a tad more direct. Their tactic so nearly brought them an equaliser midway through the first half when Zander Diamond had a header kicked off the line by Marc Crosas. Shortly after, Lee Miller scurried away on goal with Boruc forced to come out to meet him. The Pole won the day but the visiting support had a modicum of hope all the same. No need to give up the ghost just yet.

A substitution was forced on Calderwood in the 27th minute, Scott Severin leaving the field and Mulgrew taking his place. At the time it seemed like another blow to the cause, the departure of a midfield leader they could well have done without. How spectacularly wrong that assessment was, how outrageously successful Mulgrew proved to be.

The remainder of the first half ambled along with Celtic having most of the ball but not creating a huge amount. Aberdeen had gotten a foot-hold. Save for the odd moment of Samaras danger, they had stability. What they needed now was a threat down the other end. That looked to be where the challenge was going to fall down.

Enter Mulgrew. When a Jared Hodgkiss cross swung its way into the Celtic box nobody in the home defence took responsibility for it. They left it to come and watched as it landed at Mulgrew's feet, alone to the left side of Boruc's goal. Mulgrew had a cut, a precise cut that eluded Boruc and nestled in the net behind him. Wonder of wonders, the Dons were level.

And eight minutes later, wonder of wonders, the Dons were ahead. Loovens fouled Miller outside the Celtic area and up stepped cheeky Charlie to take the free-kick. He's got form with a dead ball, this guy. He's no Nakamura but he's got a history of scoring from this range. And he did it again. A beauty that had Boruc at full stretch, a dive that did nothing to stop the shot but a lot to add to its aesthetic.

Champions will be champions, though. Strachan brought on McGeady and he brought on McDonald and the game turned on its head. With 12 minutes left, McGeady scampered up the right wing, saw McDonald scampering towards the back post and picked him out for a tap-in. Calderwood saw his dream day diluted. And then destroyed. McGeady again, catching Mulgrew on the hop, and up the right and into the box with the cross. A desperate, sliding Don trying to hook it away but failing. A big hulking Vennegoor of Hesselink back-heeling it in. Calderwood in pain now. And Calderwood on his knees at the end, when Mackie failed to convert the last chance.




OVERVIEW

MAN OF THE MATCH

Officially, Georgios Samaras but in terms of game-turning power it had to be Aiden McGeady, even though he only played little more than half an hour. Played the key pass for the Celtic equaliser and for the winner. They'd have been beaten without him.

QUICK FACT

Charlie Mulgrew spent his boyhood years as a Celtic player but this was the first time he'd ever scored at Celtic Park. Two crackers but, sadly, to no avail.

TALKING POINT

Jimmy Calderwood's been having a nightmare and the drums are beating for him. Does this admirable performance ease the pressure on him or will the knives remain out?