SPL Sunday December 4th 2005

Aberdeen 1

Celtic 3

1:0 Winter 53
1:1 McGeady 56
1:2 Petrov 58
1:3 Telfer 64

Att: 17,031

MIB: Charlie Richmond

Celtic: Boruc Telfer Balde McManus Wallace Petrov Lennon Nakamura McGeady Hartson Zurawski
subs
Maloney for Zurawski 75
Virgo for Hartson 85

Business as usual as a trip to the frozen tundra wastelands of Aberdeen ends in what turns out to be a comfortable victory. We had to endure a dismal fist half and the setback of losing a goal, but if the home fans were waving red and white flags at the start then their favourites had dispensed with the need for the red variety long before the end. The white ones would be enough, thanks.

With Nakamura restored to the midfield Celtic looked in much better fettle than that insipid display against the Pars. This is a player who is turning out to be much more influential to our season than many fans give him credit for. He might not relish the agricultural side of things but he sure as hell knows what to do with a ball at his feet. Zurawski was back as well to replace the out of sorts Sutton and looked a bit rusty. His performance here was reminiscent of how his Celtic career got started. He missed a couple of great chances in the first half but hopefully he'll soon be back to the form he was showing before he picked up his injury.

The back four was changed for the first time in eighteen games, but it wasn't new left back Wallace who was to blame for the opening goal. Bobo Balde, it was, with some pantomime defending which led to a free-kick smacked home by Winter.

The big man made up for his blunder a mere three minutes later. His rampage into the home side's penalty area caused slightly more havoc than he had wreaked at his own end and the resulting Montfordesque stramash was finally resolved when McGeady scored.

Petrov cashed in on a goalie blunder a few minuted later after good work by Hartson before Paul Telfer, of all people, finished the match with a splendid effort. It was a move straight off the training ground at Barrowfield which almost rendered the plans for Lennoxtown obsolete before they've even been drawn up. His first goal in three years and the gauntlet has been thrown down to Neil Lennon.

An important three points from a potentially tricky away match but the defending will have to show a bit less of the Christmas spirit against Hibs next week.

Finally, a word for referee Charlie Richmond. Arsehole. That's about as a good a word as I can think of at the moment.