Celtic finally overcame an ill-disciplined Aberdeen with ease to reach the Scottish Cup final. The Dons visible frustrations may stem from the fact they had Celtic under relative control until Ball’s assault on Christie.
Road Runners
The Champions started brightly and with Aberdeen again going man for man in defence, had success with runs from deep by the centre backs to combat. With the midfield being emptied by markers following their targets, Ajer and Simunovic twice broke forward in the first 10 minutes. Indeed McGregor, Simunovic Hayes, Tierney and Ajer all completed dribbles in that opening period.
4 shots resulted, the best chance falling to Simunovic from a corner following a great Lewis save from the same players dribble and shot. Simunovic had 4 attempts at goal which I am not even looking up – it will be a record! He’d only had 11 all season up to this game.
Red Blanket
Once that opening period was negotiated, the game settled into a pattern of Celtic possession and Aberdeen containment.
There wasn’t a single attempt at goal by either side from the 7th to the 25th minute. Between the 11th and 23rd minute Celtic did not take out a single Dons player with a pass or dribble.
Indeed, between the 11th and 36th minutes Aberdeen completed 13 pack passes and dribbles to Celtic’s 4.
The Ball sending off completely changed the game, exacerbated by Forrest’s goal.
As in the League Cup Final, a serious head injury and long delay ended with Celtic scoring in added time in the half.
Red Mist
Once down a goal and a player, Aberdeen frustration grew as Celtic increasingly exerted control. Docherty, the assistant manager was sent off at half time. McInnes followed him in the second half when Ferguson had finally snapped after persistently infringing and attacked Rogic.
It is what might have been for the Dons who had managed the game well after the initial Celtic surge.
Final Dominance
The final Expected Goal count was 3.074 to 0.31 as the Dons managed but 2 attempts at goal. Bain didn’t have a save to make. Bain touched the ball 5 times in the second half.
Celtic eschewed clinical finishing for trying luck from distance – 13 of 24 shots were from outside the box. Lewis still had to make 7 saves.
In the end Aberdeen’s 41 disciplinary points from this game eclipses even the equally ill-disciplined The Rangers performance at Celtic Park to become the Crime Count champion of the season (so far).
Bhoy of the Match
There were many good performances without an obvious stand out.
Lustig managed to get possession in the box a remarkable 9 times, 5 more than any other player! He also created 4 chances and had 2 efforts at goal.
McGregor was highly effective at getting the team forward especially in tandem with Tierney. As well as creating 2 chances, he completed 17 pack passes taking out opponents. This was the best in the team by 9.
But the Bhoy of the Match was Tierney. He kept making run after run down the left. He received forward passes 14 times, 8 more than any other player. He also completed 2 dribbles.
Tierney set up 3 chances and supplied 2 secondary assists. He also led the team with 84 completed passes at 88% completion rate. Defensively he was also sound with the highest DASR% of the defenders at 71%.
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