Didier Agathe's second-half strike enabled Celtic to continue with plans for a promotion party on Saturday.

It was enough to beat a stubborn Aberdeen side and now means that home wins over Dundee on Wednesday and St Mirren in six days will be enough to lift the title.

Agathe's strike was reward for a game the visitors just about shaded, with the introduction of Lubo Moravcik as a second-half substitute tipping the balance Celtic's way.

Aberdeen began the game as one of only four Scottish sides to have walked off a football pitch without having been beaten by Celtic, which sums up how much Martin O'Neill's side have dominated this year.

The Dons needed a win to keep their faint hopes of a top six finish alive and fielded an attacking line-up with young flier Darren Mackie given a rare start.

Mackie saw an early shot gathered by Rob Douglas and Darren Young saw Joos Valgaeren get in the way of another as the Dons took the early initiative.

But this was a Celtic side that had seen Douglas, Alan Thompson and Agathe restored to it and eventually it was the visitors who took control of the game.

Larsson's first sniff of a goal turned out to be a clear chance when he dived to head a Neil Lennon free-kick wide, with the home defence having given him more space than recommended.

There was no Chris Sutton following his CIS Insurance Cup sending off but replacement Tommy Johnson came close with a header from a Thompson free-kick from the other flank.

Johnson was quick to get to the ball ahead of his marker but his header flew straight into Ryan Esson's gloves when a few inches either side might have given the young goalkeeper real problems.

Ramon Vega was keen to get forward and he fired a shot from the edge of the box that flew only just wide.

But Aberdeen could have taken the lead near the interval when Douglas failed to collect a corner and it needed a deflection off a defender to divert Philip McGuire's follow-up over the bar.

Lennon and McGuire swapped bookings after the restart and it took Mackie's pace to waken the game up.

He swept past Valgaeren, bouncing the ball ahead of him with his head, and although his shot had the beating of Douglas it also flashed past the post.

It was the best chance of the match so far and prompted O'Neill to make a double change, with Johnson and Healy making way for Moravcik and Jackie McNamara.

It was the Slovak's arrival that was to prove decisive as he went on a goalward run that Aberdeen could only partially check and Agathe drilled the ball past Esson to give his side the lead.

It was all Celtic after that with Larsson almost notching the goal that would have seen him equal Charlie Nicholas' post-war club record for a season.

He nipped in to loft the ball over the advancing Esson but it bounced wide of the post and the Swede remained stuck on 47.

Moravcik was involved in everything now and struck a post with a drive before blasting over a good opportunity after Larsson had unselfishly set him up.

Teams

Aberdeen: Esson, McNaughton, McGuire, Whyte, McAllister, Mackie, Rowson, Darren Young (Belabed 82), Stavrum, Derek Young (Clark 82), Winters.

Subs Not Used: Preece, Solberg, Dow.

Booked: McGuire.

Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Vega, Valgaeren, Agathe, Healy (McNamara 65), Lambert, Lennon, Thompson, Larsson, Johnson (Moravcik 64).

Subs Not Used: Gould, Boyd, Crainey.

Booked: Lennon.

Goals: Agathe 73.

Att: 16,067

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).