CELTIC have failed to beat Aberdeen in actual play in their last three meetings.
Ponder that for a moment, dear reader, as we prepare for this evening’s Hampden Premier Sports League Cup semi-final against Jimmy Thelin’s on-fire Dons.
A trio of stalemates have been brightened only by the 6-5 penalty-kick triumph over the north-east opponents in the Scottish Cup back-four confrontation last season following a six-goal extra-time deadlock.
That game is bookended by a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie in February and 2-2 at Parkhead a fortnight ago.
So, we are left to ponder the situation. Are the Dons making life difficult for the champions?
Or are Brendan Rodgers’ men making it easy for Sir Alex’s old team?
TAKING NOTES…Brendan Rodgers finds plenty to put in his book during the 2-2 draw with Aberdeen.
Possibly a bit of both, but, without any disrespect to the team who are behind the champions solely on goal difference at the Premiership pinnacle, it has to be admitted the Celtic defending on all three occasions has veered towards the carelessly charitable to their opponents.
In the first game, Bojan Miovksi was allowed to canter half the length of the field without a solitary challenge before the Macedonian decided to place the ball wide of Joe Hart who must have been wondering if the guys in front of him were taking this tussle seriously.
Likewise the semi-final at the national stadium a couple of months later. Miovski, by far the Dons’ most dangerous player, was gifted the freedom of Mount Florida to put the Dons ahead.
Nicolas Kuhn levelled and then James Forrest gave the favourites the advantage. Some extraordinarily slack defending presented the opponents a last-minute equaliser to propel the tie into a period of extra-time.
Matt O’Riley netted again and it looked as though everyone was now following the script. Surely the Celtic back lot had exhausted their range of incompetence? Nope, they still had one more lifeline to throw to their rivals.
in the fading moments of the added-on period, Angus MacDonald was left totally unhindered at the back post to head a free-kick wide of the despairing Hart.
Remember, please, this was Celtic bumbling through a maze of mistakes against a team that had failed to claim a top-six finish in the Premiership.
OOPS…Joe Hart thumps his penalty-kick against the Dons’ right-hand post.
WHOOPS…Joe Hart dives to deny Killian Phillips to hand Celtic a penalty-kick shoot-out success.
The outcome would ultimately be decided by penalty-kicks. No-one would have been surprised if Laurel and Hardy had been unveiled as designated spot-kick takers for the Hoops.
It was all good slapstick, fall-about stuff as Hart clattered what would have been a deciding effort off the base of the right-hand upright.
Fingernails were being chewed down to the elbow after Junior Hoilett gratefully accepted the opportunity to drill in the fifth penalty to take the semi-final to sudden death.
Alistair Johnston and Tomoki Iwata kept their nerve to make impeccable jobs with their finishes as did Jack Millen for his team.
All eyes were on Killian Phillips who could have extended the agony with a successful conversion, but, thankfully, Hart belied his 37 years to get down smartly to his left and paw the ball away from the line.
Celtic would have to wait 24 hours to discover their Cup Finals opponents with Rangers and Hearts due to meet in the other semi. It’s in the history books that Cyriel Dessers knocked in two to take his side through and Adam Idah had the final say in the showpiece showdown on the iconic date of May 25.
Conveniently, the perplexing display against the Dons was despatched to the mists of time, but, if Dame Fortune had been wearing a scowl that April afternoon, it could have been an entirely different story.
FLAT-OUT SUCCESS…Kyogo Furuhashi is grounded after scoring Celtic’s second goal in the 2-2 stalemate.
And that takes us to Parkhead a couple of weeks ago. Two goals ahead at the interval, courtesy of strikes from Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi, only those blessed with an Everest of optimism or cursed with a faulty memory bank would have believed the contest was done and dusted.
Within 15 minutes of the turnaround, it was all square. Liam Scales was caught flat-footed as Ester Sokler was allowed to saunter onto a straightforward through pass from Jamie McGrath, carry the ball to the edge of the box and slide an effort wide of the outrushing Kasper Schmeichel.
It wasn’t long before the Dane was being invited to retrieve the ball from the back of the rigging for a second time after a drive from Graeme Shinnie deflected off Auston Trusty and left the keeper helpless.
The American defender, bought for £6million from Sheffield United on deadline day, looks like a fairly polished back-four operator, but someone should tell him that turning his back when an opponent lines up a shot is a massive no-no.
It’s one of your humble author’s pet hates when a player ducks out – sometimes quite literally – of his responsibility.
Could you ever imagine a goalkeeper doing likewise when an opponent was about to make contact with the ball?
A career would end there and then if a netminder was ever daft enough to opt for safety first. Quite right, too.
So, with the hours and minutes ticking down to the 5.30pm kick-off, you have to hope that lessons from the past will have been learned.
I have one last solicitation to Brendan Rodgers’ team.
Cut out the comic cuts defending, please. I doubt my old ticker can’t take much more.
ALEX GORDON
*DON’T miss the unbeatable match report and the best action images from Celtic v Aberdeen this evening – only in your champion CQN.
