Celtic travelled to the Pittodrie Stadium to lock horns with Aberdeen earlier today hoping to pick up a victory on the road. Neil Lennon’s men made a slow start to the game but managed to get themselves ahead via Callum McGregor’s finish from close range. However, the home side found a way back into the contest when they equalised courtesy of Ash Taylor’s goal in the 27th minute.
Despite all of Aberdeen’s efforts to score the winning goal, the Glaswegian giants found a way to bag all three points via Kristoffer Ajer’s goal in the 81st minute. Celtic ended up securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory to consolidate their position at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Let’s take a look at how each Celtic player fared during the match against Aberdeen.
Celtic Players Rated In Hard Fought Win Vs Aberdeen
GK: Fraser Forster – 6/10
The English keeper was hardly tested during the game but had no chance of preventing the Aberdeen goal.
CB: Kristoffer Ajer – 7/10
The Norwegian defender struggled to cope with the threat of the Aberdeen attackers but did pop up to score the winning goal in the second half. It was not the best performance from him defensively, but he won’t mind netting the winner and making the difference in this tough away game.
CB: Nir Bitton – 6/10
He did the little things right and won a lot of aerial duels. Lennon will be happy with Bitton’s performance today.
CB: Christopher Jullien – 5/10
The French centre-back struggled to keep Curtis Main in check and was often overpowered by the opposition’s physicality at the back. He will be hoping for better days in a Celtic shirt.
RWB: James Forrest – 6.5/10
He performed his defensive duties well inside his own half and was a decent outlet for Celtic going forward. He made a sensational solo run to set-up Ajer’s winning goal in the second half.
CM: Callum McGregor – 6/10
McGregor opened the goal-scoring with a tap-in from close range. However, he struggled to make an impact throughout the remainder of the contest.
CM: Scott Brown – 6/10
The Celtic captain provided adequate cover for the back three and got stuck in with a few tackles in midfield. He tried to make some darting runs with the ball but to no great effect.
CM: Olivier Ntcham – 6/10
He tried to make things happen in the final third but lacked the cutting edge with his passes. Ntcham’s impact faded as the match went on, which is why Lennon chose to sub him out in the second half.
LWB: Greg Taylor – 5/10
The Scottish talent suffered an injury midway through the first half and had to be taken off.
ST: Leigh Griffiths – 5/10
The veteran forward did not have a good game as he struggled to link up play well with others in the opposition half. However, he played his part in the lead-up to McGregor’s goal in the first half.
ST: Odsonne Edouard – 5/10
The French striker was mostly a frustrated figure up top and put in a lacklustre display during the game. He was guilty of squandering a golden opportunity to score in the second half.
Substitutes:
LWB: Jonny Hayes – 5/10
Hayes came off the bench to replace Taylor but failed to be productive in the final third. He missed a glorious chance to score in the second half and lacked accuracy with his ball-distribution.
ST: Ryan Christie – 5/10
He didn’t manage to create anything meaningful after coming on near the hour mark.
CM: Tom Rogic – 5/10
The Aussie midfielder struggled to get into the game.
