Benjamin Nygren came off the bench to snatch a 2-1 win for Celtic at Pittodrie, a result that lifted them into second place in the Premiership. The rearranged fixture — postponed in February because of a waterlogged pitch — saw Celtic move above Rangers and close to within five points of leaders Hearts.
Celtic opened the scoring inside five minutes. A Luke McCowan corner reached Liam Scales, whose flick-on found Kieran Tierney, who bundled the ball home from close range. Aberdeen struggled to escape their own half early on, and Callum McGregor later forced a comfortable save from Dimitar Mitov with a driven effort.
Aberdeen were levelled from the penalty spot after Scales was penalised for a foul on Toyosi Olusanya in the area, with referee Nick Walsh awarding the spot-kick. Kevin Nisbet coolly converted, sending Viljami Sinisalo the wrong way for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Both sides had chances before half-time. Sebastian Tounekti went close for Aberdeen by cutting inside and firing just wide, while Nisbet had an early second-half header from Mitchel Frame’s cross tipped over by Sinisalo. Scales also missed a free header from a McCowan corner despite being unmarked.
Martin O’Neill made a series of substitutions and his changes paid off when Nygren slid in to finish from a James Forrest delivery across the six-yard box. VAR checked for offside but the goal was allowed to stand.
Shortly after, Jack Milne slipped and allowed Daizen Maeda a clear run at goal, but his effort was mis-hit and Mitov was untested. Aberdeen pushed for an equaliser late on, and Tounekti fed Marcelo Saracchi whose strike flew over as Celtic held on.
O’Neill described it as a difficult night but welcomed the points, saying the win keeps them in the hunt and praising late inclusion Benjamin Arthur after Dane Murray missed the match with a warm-up injury. Aberdeen interim boss Peter Leven lamented fine margins, praising his players’ effort but calling for greater streetwise play.
Pundits continued to question Celtic’s striker situation. Chris Sutton pointed to Celtic’s progress despite lacking a recognised centre forward, while Kris Boyd highlighted Maeda’s confidence issues after a barren spell.
Celtic now sit second in the table, above Rangers and five points behind Hearts. Aberdeen left Pittodrie with some encouraging signs but no points. Both sides turn their attention to upcoming Premiership fixtures, with Celtic headed to Ibrox this weekend for a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Rangers.