Aberdeen hoped for a consolation win over league champions Celtic but fell short, says Voice reporter Andrew Watson.
Spitting rain threatened to unfurl in the skies above Pittodrie, but thankfully held back. In fact a dull day soon turned into uncharacteristic Scottish sunshine.
Aberdeen were sportsmanlike enough to give the Hoops a guard of honour before the game for securing the championship, though went all out with their rivals during the game to discard the conduct of gentlemen in favour of gamesmanship.
Some would argue that the Parkhead men were dirty, and abetted by an official secretly donning Celtic’s colours under his garb of referee.
The Dons started strong, though one of their best efforts, through ex-Celt Barry Robson, went just wide. His next effort was closer, though straight at the keeper.
Although it took Celtic awhile to establish themselves, thereafter they cottoned onto Aberdeen’s methods and moved to nullify them.
After the break, Celtic made a point to rectify their slow start in the first half. Slackness from Robson gave opportunity for the men in green and white to exploit.
0-1 (Scott Brown) after 49 minutes.
56 minutes into the game, striker David Goodwillie came on the pitch replacing Adam Rooney. Thirteen minutes later, Robson came off replaced by Peter Pawlett.
Niall McGinn had good chances to equalise on a few occasions. He would have been on top of his game conversion-wise if he’d been playing rugby, though.
At the other end of the pitch keeper Scott Brown kept the Reds in the game at least two or three times with some spectacular saves.
Three minutes before the death Lawrence Shankland came on for Ryan Jack. Five agonising minutes of injury time were added to those tense, sometimes bad tempered, 90 minutes.
The latter substitute came close to goal with a diving header via a cross from Jonny Hayes.
In conclusion, Aberdeen frequently tried the Celtic back four though the latter formed a curtain meaning their keeper was rarely tested. Consolidation or improvement will only come if Aberdeen figure out how to take points from Celtic next season.
Final score: 0-1.