Celtic 2-2 Aberdeen debrief

Mark Atkinson analyses Celtic’s 2-2 draw against Aberdeen.

Transcript

00:00What a match we've just witnessed here at Celtic Park where it finished. Celtic 2 Aberdeen

00:062. Probably one of the best games of the season already in the book. An astonishing match

00:11here full of drama, good goals, entertainment between the two top teams in this division.

00:17They went into the game locked together having won their first 7 premiership matches. Come

00:23the end they both still sit top of the league on 22 points following a gripping 2-2 draw.

00:29Celtic were 2-0 ahead at the break. Goals from Reo Hitati and Kyoko Furuhashi. They

00:33were coasting I would say. They were much the better side. Neutralised Aberdeen quickly

00:38and looked for all the whirl. They were going to go on and win comfortably. Aberdeen under

00:43their increasingly impressive manager Jimmy Tolleen regrouped at half time. Made two substitutions

00:50bringing on Esther Sockler and Duke. Switched their formation around a little bit and scored

00:55two goals between 50 and 60 minutes to go level 2 apiece. And then they actually almost

01:00went ahead 3-2. A Rubisic header that hit Duke's elbow and went in. VAR chalked it off

01:06but for a moment they were ahead and this place here it fell very silent. All of a sudden

01:11Celtic fans were very concerned. They actually regrouped quite well Celtic afterwards and

01:16finished the game by far the stronger side. Had some great chances in 12 minutes of stoppage

01:22time. Adam Ida denied by a great save by Dimitar Mitrop and then Duke survived a VAR

01:26claim in the very last minute for a block on the line. It was deemed that it hadn't

01:31hit his hand. Brendan Rodgers at full time Celtic manager. He spoke to the press. He

01:37said his team came off it for 10 minutes and they were punished. Jimmy Tolleen delighted

01:41with the calmness and robustness of his team. A lot of people questioned Aberdeen before

01:47this match and while I'd say Celtic still deserved to win here on balance of play, what

01:53Aberdeen showed is that they are a real presence in this league, a real threat. And while Celtic

01:58may be a bridge too far, what we're seeing right now is that we have a team that could

02:02conceivably push Rangers if they can keep this form up for second spot because this

02:07was an excellent performance. You don't see many teams come to Celtic Park and perform

02:13so well when tootled down and show enough spirit and character to come back. The small

02:17pocket of Aberdeen fans just over my shoulder behind there went absolutely ballistic at

02:22full time getting their point. They were so pleased and you feel some building under the

02:27Sweden. A momentous day for them. Celtic will rue this and they go into the Champions League

02:32game on Wednesday at Atalanta with fears over their defence. Both Auston Trusty and to a

02:37lesser extent Liam Scales struggled to get set to half. They really miss Cameron Carter

02:41and there's no real optimism about him making the game in Bergamo in four days' time.

02:47For now though on domestic matters, both Celtic and Aberdeen have lost their 100% record but

02:51they both remain unbeaten after a 2-0 draw here at Celtic Park. There's more on the games

02:56this season and all the reaction on scotstrum.com.