Last season’s meetings: Celtic vs. Aberdeen

Saturday afternoon will see Ronny Deila’s Celtic head to Pittodrie in a bid to lay down a marker for the season ahead when they take on Aberdeen.

The Dons have started the season in fine form racking up five wins from five games, as they look to challenge the Hoops for the league title.

Here we look at last season’s meetings between the two sides and they didn’t go without controversy.

13/09/14 – Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen (H)

Aberdeen came to Parkhead looking to kickstart their season after an inconsistent run of form saw them pick up six points from their first four games.

However, they were coming up against a Celtic side whose manager was having teething problems of his own in a new club, as a loss and draw left them in an unfamiliar fourth place.

Celtic opened the scoring early on through Jason Denayer, on-loan Manchester City, as he turned home an Efe Ambrose strike to give Celtic an early advantage. The home side then doubled their advantage just a minute into the second-half when a deflected Kris Commons strike found the net.

There was a scare from the champions when David Goodwillie pulled one back for the visitors, and despite creating several chances towards the end of the game, the Hoops hung on to pick up a crucial three points.

09/11/14 – Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen (A)

Celtic travelled to Pittodrie in the hope of securing a win that would see them regain their spot at the top of the league table, having trailed Inverness Caledonian Thistle by three points.

The home side, however, were determined not to let that happen as they knew that victory over Deila’s men would mean would put them ahead of Celtic by two points, with the champions having suffered a frustrating few months under the Norwegian.

Aberdeen started the game brightly and got what they deserved as Adam Rooney pounced to score after goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska failed to clear the danger in the Celtic penalty area.

With minutes to go until half-time, some neat passing from the Hoops saw Johansen through on goal. Dons defender Mark Reynolds couldn’t recover in time for Aberdeen, as the Norwegian midfielder managed to clip the ball over the towering centre-back and into the back of the net.

Things took a turn for the worse for the champions midway into the second half as captain Scott Brown was shown a red card after two bookable offences, handing Aberdeen the initiative as the game entered its closing stages.

The Dons carved Celtic open several times but failed to take advantage and they were punished right at the death. Late pressure from the visitors forced two corner kicks, and from the second, the ball went right through the defence and found Virgil Van Dijk at the back post, with the Dutchman gleefully knocking it past ‘keeper Scott Brown and into the net to send Celtic to the top of the table.

01/03/15 – Celtic 4-0 Aberdeen (H)

Unlike the previous two clashes between the two sides, Celtic brushed aside Aberdeen with relative ease as they killed off the Dons chances of grasping the title from Bhoys’ hands.

Derek McInnes’ side went into the game on a magnificent run of form as they had stuck to Celtic well throughout the campaign, and headed into the clash just three points behind the eventual champions.

After a dominant opening half an hour, the Dons should have profited from multiple chances, but it was Celtic who opened the scoring on the 37th minute through a terrific header by Denayer.

Celtic grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck when they made it 2-0 mid-way into the second half. Reynolds fouled the energetic Stefan Johansen, and Leigh Griffiths buried the penalty to put clear daylight between the sides.

It was soon 3-0 and game over for McInnes’ men as Gary Mackay-Steven, who signed from Dundee United just two months’ previously, lashed home a left-footed effort off the post and in. The Hoops then rounded off the scoring as they cut open the Dons and Johansen slotted home a cut-back to halt Aberdeen’s title challenge.

10/05/15 – Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen (A)

Celtic went into the final game of the season between the pair having already won the league title and with a resounding 14 points lead over the Dons.

Aberdeen, however, were buoyed after securing second place and being 12 points clear of Inverness, and went into the game looking to prove a point to the champions that they would be a more difficult challenge next season.

The game swung from end-to-end, with both sides refusing to show the other any clear-cut openings in what was a fiercely competitive game for an end-of-season match.

Captain marvel Scott Brown proved to be the difference as he blocked former Bhoy Barry Robson’s effort from the edge of the box, launched a menacing counter-attack, before getting on the end of Stuart Armstrong’s cut-back to put the Hoops in front.

The goal seemed to drain the life from Aberdeen as the away side created multiple more outstanding opportunities to confirm their dominance over McInnes’ men but failed to take them.

There was no equaliser from the Dons, as Celtic hung on to take maximum points from their four clashes against Aberdeen.