Moment in Time: £25m talent drives 10-man Celtic to key win

When you win a league title you need to show a lot of character, and that is what Celtic did in February 2018.

When reduced to 10 men and on the back of a defeat in Europe, the team showed plenty of spirit and determination to defeat Aberdeen 2-0 at Pittodrie on the way to winning a seventh league title in a row, with one of the goals being memorable for one of Celtic’s homegrown talents.

For a good few seasons during Celtic’s recent run of nine titles in a row, Aberdeen were the closest challengers. They finished in second place in the Premiership table on three occasions, and the Hoops have always had a difficult time in the trip to Pittodrie.

The visit to Aberdeen was made all the more difficult back in 2018 as the Hoops were coming off the back of the end of a disappointing Europa League exit, which saw the team lose 3-0 to Zenit, and go out of the competition 3-1 on aggregate.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had to dust themselves off though, and stay clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership table, there was no time for self-pity.

The Hoops and Aberdeen both missed chances before Celtic took the lead just before half-time as Moussa Dembele, who had a good record at Pittodrie, crashed home a header from close range to put the Bhoys a goal up.

The second-half was similar to the first, with both sides creating chances, until Mikael Lustig was sent-off for a second bookable offence, thus reducing Celtic to 10 men for the last 14 minutes of the game.

The red card didn’t make Celtic go into their shells though, in fact it spurred the team into action, and a second goal came from an unlikely goal scorer just seven minutes after Lustig had been sent-off.

In the 83rd minute, Aberdeen had a corner, which was cleared by Celtic who went on a counter-attack. Dembele got the ball, and played in Kieran Tierney, who had made a lung-bursting run up the park. Tierney took a touch and then hammered the ball into the back of the net, to secure the three points for the Hoops.

The moment that is remembered most fondly from this game is Tierney’s goal, as it summed up everything good about the player.

YouTube: Celts restore lead at the top with victory over Dons

It might have been the last 10 minutes of the game, but he was desperate to get forward and support the attacking players, and try to help the Hoops score the goal which would clinch the three points.

Tierney’s goal celebration was well worth a mention too, as he ran right to the Celtic support to celebrate the goal and the win.

Tierney left Celtic a year later, making a £25m move to Arsenal, but he should be remembered as a Celtic great, who won lots of trophies in his time at the club and made the club a lot of money when he left.

Who knows, perhaps he will return to Celtic one day, but for now fans will always have memories such as the goal he scored against Aberdeen.