Celtic 3 - 0 Aberdeen

Aberdeen had an afternoon to forget as they crashed 3-0 to Celtic at Parkhead and for the third straight away game they had a player red carded. The culprit this week was Jerald Ifil for a lunge at Samaras that was missed by the referee, but spotted by his assistant. All the confidence of the last few weeks evaporated in the east end of Glasgow as McDonald and Samaras did the damage. It could have been a lot worse, but Langfield was in inspired form and made a string of great saves. The Dons need to pick themselves up put this game behind them as they head into the busy Christmas period.

Celtic kicked off and enjoyed the early possession without testing Jamie Langfield in the opening five minutes. Celtic won the first corner a minute later, but it was easily dealt with. McDonald then picked up a knock, but was able to continue after treatment. Aberdeen were employing a sweeper system that utilised Maurice Ross in an unfamiliar role. Samaras was set up nicely by Caldwell in the 13th minute, but a heavy touch prevented any danger. A minute later Aberdeen carved out their first chance of the matches when Mulgrew fired inches wide of the Celtic goal.

Langfield was forced into a fine save in the 16th minute when Fox was allowed to run at the Aberdeen defence. His shot was parried by Langfield and Considine tidied up as he cleared the loose ball. The Dons were failing to retain the ball and distribution was poor, but Mulgrew won the Dons first corner in the 18th minute without threatening the Celtic goal. Good play from Paton in the 22nd minute pushed Aberdeen forward, but the move broke down and Samaras strode forward and fired a dangerous ball across the face of the Aberdeen goal, but it failed to find any hooped shirts.

Ross did well to clear as McDonald and Samaras threatened and as Aberdeen tried to break Miller was flattened, but he failed to win the free kick award. As is normal in these situations the opposition were awarded a soft free kick seconds later. Robson swung in a good delivery, but the Dons defence stood firm. McDonald fired wide in the 29th minute and at the other end a dipping volley from Miller went wide. Considine made a great interception in the 32nd minute, but when McDonald gave the ball away too easily in midfield it was Ifil who had to make another important clearance to keep Celtic at bay. Considine was the hero once more in the 35th minute as he prevented McDonald from shooting and Langfield gathered the loose ball.

A minute later Mulgrew won a free kick and he played it short to Paton and the youngster did well to beat Hinkel and swing in a decent cross that was won by the Celtic defenders. McGeady went on a great run in the 38th minute and set up McDonald, but Langfield made a good save. The keeper could do nothing a minute later as Celtic took the lead when Paton was caught out by Hinkel on the right and his whipped cross set up an easy chance for McDonald. Celtic almost doubled their advantage two minutes later when McDonald headed a corner wide. Aberdeen then had a good spell of play before Mulgrew earned the first yellow card of the match for a poor challenge on McGeady.

Aberdeen picked up a second yellow card early in the second half when Derek Young was cautioned. The Dons were then left with a mountain to climb in the 61st minute when Samaras headed a second goal for Celtic. Fyvie replaced Young in the 53rd minute and two minutes later the difficult task became mission impossible when Ifil was shown a straight red on the word of the assistant referee. Ifil had been adjudged to have lashed out after winning a free kick from Samaras. Langfield made a fine save from Samaras in the 58th minute and the same player headed a corner wide on the hour mark.

Maguire replaced Paton as the Dons looked to hold out for the last half hour. Langfield parried a McGeady shot in the 64th minute and six minutes later Ross had to clear a Loovens header off the line. Langfield made another magnificent save from Crosas in the 74th minute, but Celtic added a third a minute later as Samaras beat Considine and hooked the ball beyond Langfield. Foster was shown a yellow card a minute later for a foul on Samaras and seconds later Langfield made another great save from Robson.

Celtic were playing with confidence now and when McDonald lost the ball in the middle of the park the home team moved forward. N'Guemo beat Langfield, but hit the bar before Samaras fired wide. The Dons won some relief in the in the 82nd minute when Lee Miller was awarded his first free kick of the match. Mulgrew wasted the opportunity and Celtic raced forward again where substitute McGinn hit the post to prevent further grief for Aberdeen. Grassi replaced Fyvie in injury time after the youngster picked up a knock, but as soon as he was on the final whistle went to end a miserable afternoon for Aberdeen.