Scotland: Celtic dominant against Aberdeen

Celtic 4 - 0 Aberdeen

An inspiring performance from Reo Hatate helped Celtic earn a dominant win over Aberdeen.

Celtic TV Unique Angle | Celtic 4-0 Aberdeen | Celts dominate Dons in Paradise! - YouTube

Callum McGregor opened the scoring inside two minutes before Hatate doubled the lead 11 minutes later in a scintillating first 45 minutes from Celtic. The Japanese midfielder would then add a third goal thanks to some sublime individual play with 14 minutes remaining before Liel Abada crashed home a fourth with a minute to play, rounding off a fine afternoon's work for Ange Postecoglou's side.

A great start for Celtic

Things couldn’t have got off to a better start for Celtic as inside the first two minutes, Callum McGregor gave the Hoops the lead.

It was Greg Taylor’s initial cross which was headed clear by Aberdeen, but it only went as far as the skipper lurking on the edge of the box who smashed a low drive into the bottom left corner, despite the efforts of Jay Gorter in goal.

💚 The Bhoys!#CELABE | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/KBi9n5q1tX

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 18, 2023

After 10 minutes, Jota went close with a left-foot shot that just trickled wide, but it wouldn’t matter as the second goal would arrive at 13 minutes from Reo Hatate.

Great work by Hyeongyu Oh - on his first start for the club - started the move, with Hatate eventually receiving the ball and driving into the box, reaching the penalty spot unmarked and calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.

It could have been six or seven

The visitors couldn’t breathe from Celtic’s attacking play and they were fortunate not to go further behind on numerous occasions, with the Hoops creating chance after chance, particularly down the left-hand-side.

Jota then thought he had the chance to add the third on 38 minutes when a penalty was awarded for a foul on Daizen Maeda in the box. The Portuguese winger stood with the ball in his hands as VAR checked the decision and ruled there was an offside on the 23-year-old when he received Hatate’s defence-splitting pass in the build-up

Matt O’Riley was so close to getting his second goal in two games right on the stroke of half-time as Hatate picked him out and with a Cruyff turn, O'Riley smashed a shot towards the bottom left which Gorter had to get down quickly to keep out.

Same again in the second-half

After a blistering first half with two goals, Celtic came out into the second period looking to add to their lead with Maeda creating the first opportunity on 51 minutes but the Japanese forward curled wide from Oh’s lay-off.

Celtic continued to have all of the control, but the chances weren’t flowing at the same rate, with some more half-opportunities arising from crosses into the box, with the odd flurry of longer-range attempts that were saved by Gorter.

Full-time. pic.twitter.com/Lizt7EWKvM

— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) February 18, 2023

Finishing with a flourish 

However, as the game seemed to be petering out to a 2-0 win, Hatate produced a moment of individual brilliance to make it 3-0 with 14 minutes to play.

Keeping possession under extreme pressure in the midfield with some quick feet, Hatate then started the move with a nutmeg, playing the ball to McGregor’s path. Moments later and the ball fell back into the midfielder’s path and he slammed a right-foot shot just inside the box into the bottom right corner for his eighth of the season and fourth in two games.

With a minute remaining, Liel Abada added more shine to the performance to make it 4-0. Sead Haksabanovic won the ball high up the park before finding his opposite winger near the penalty spot and he lashed a powerful shot into the back of the net with a first-time left-footed finish. 

Sensational from Celtic yesterday. Match report coming up on the blog. https://t.co/Mu4Cn3wz9B https://t.co/J9QT8Kd2IS

— SuperFootball (@wsnews1blog) February 19, 2023

One Celtic fan told us: "This game warmed the heart on a wet miserable winter's day in Glasgow.  The build-up to the third goal was Hatate at his best. When four Aberdeen players left the ball to each other, he just took control.  He started and ended the move magnificently. "

Alan, another Celtic fan, was also delighted with this performance. He added: "Hatate is outstanding at the moment. He’ll be targeted by the Rangers players next week. I just hope our football is not overpowered by dangerous tackles & lenient refereeing. If that doesn’t happen and we don’t get any red cards, I can’t see how they can beat us."

For the away side, this was another poor afternoon. They've had some shocking results recently and this was another one. They are perhaps thankful that they picked up enough points at the start of the season. Otherwise, there could have been concerns about a relegation battle.

Scotland: Another dismal day for Aberdeen (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)

Martin, an Aberdeen fan, was at Celtic Park to see his side lose again. Martin said: "We were just awful. We didn't get near them. A few players just aren't good enough and should not be with us next season."