Celtic proved their title mettle by steeling themselves after the loss of an
early goal to ease past Aberdeen at Parkhead.
The victory moves Wim Jansen's men into a three-way tie at the top of the
Premier Division inbetween Hearts and leaders Rangers - the trio all on 48
points.
It looked bleak for the home side after David Rowson's ambitious drive
benefited from a touch by Alan Stubbs which wrongfooted Jonathan Gould to give
Aberdeen a surprise ninth-minute lead.
But Celtic showed their current assurance to come back in style, Morten
Wieghorst launching their fightback after 22 minutes.
Henrik Larsson then found time and space in the Dons' area to punish hesitant
defending with a firm header to move Celtic ahead after 35 minutes.
Thereafter, Celtic were the dominant force and it became a question of when
they might secure a clinching third.
That came courtesy of substitutes Simon Donnelly and Darren Jackson, combining
for the latter to fire into the roof of the net from close range after 83
minutes.
It was only Jackson's second goal since returning from brain surgery - the
first ironically was also against Aberdeen in his first start since the
operation on December 9.
Stubbs returned for Celtic after a broken thumb to restore his central
defensive pairing with Marc Rieper, but Tom Boyd remained suspended.
For the visitors, both Billy Dodds and Dean Windass were substitutes asmanager
Alex Miller opted to start with Mike Newell as a lone striker.
But the Dons' outlook was positive from the outset and Newell almost scored
after two minutes when picked out by Eoin Jess at the far post.
Celtic's response was swift with Stubbs hitting the crossbar with a fierce
header after being found directly by Jackie McNamara's corner.
After nine minutes, football proved its capacity to even out fortune when
Aberdeen, as Celtic had against Dundee United last week, took advantage of a
deflection.
At Tannadice, Craig Burley's 87th-minute shot had struck Magnus Skoldmark
before finding the net, here it was David Rowson who scored a carbon-copy goal.
His 20-yard shot struck Stubbs and curled beyond the reach of Celtic keeper
Gould to put Aberdeen ahead.
Gould clawed away a diving Jess header moments later, before McNamara
signalled Celtic's intentions with a superb 30-yard drive which rebounded to
safety off the angle of post and bar.
Wieghorst was denied by Aberdeen keeper Jim Leighton at the near post after 20
minutes, but made no mistake in Celtic's next attack.
The ball fell kindly for the Dane just inside the area and he rifled a precise
low shot beyond Leighton's reach to level the scores.
After 27 minutes, Wieghorst almost doubled his and Celtic's tally by timing
his run well to meet a deep cross from the right from McNamara only for the
header to go narrowly wide.
But eight minutes later, Celtic's first-half recovery was complete after
Rieper climbed above a static Dons' backline to direct a header towards an
unmarked Larsson.
The Swede needed no second invitation to send the Parkhead faithful into party
mode by directing a close-range header past a powerless Leighton.
Two minutes after the restart, Stephane Mahe's cross presented McNamara with a
chance but he sent his back post header across the face of goal.
Burley exchanged passes with Harald Brattbakk on the edge of the area before
letting fly from 25 yards, but Leighton was equal to the challenge.
The same applied after 55 minutes when the Scotland keeper pulled off
anexcellent double save to deny first Burley then McNamara.
Former Chelsea man Burley was played through by a Larsson dummy, but Leighton
raced from his goal to block, then recovered in time to tip McNamara's lob from
the rebound over the bar.
On the hour mark, the busy but rarely involved Brattbakk was replaced
byJackson, with Donnelly joining him for Larsson five minutes later.
Wieghorst should have done better after 72 minutes casually placing his shot
over the bar after being released by Burley, who sent a powerful drive just over
eight minutes later.
With seven minutes remaining, a dramatic night was complete with Jackson
turning sharply on a loose ball inside the six-yard box to round off the
fightback.
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