Source: TheGuardian
Aberdeen v Celtic: Scottish Premiership – live!
Celtic need point to seal title in 12.30pm BST kick-offJoin Scott Murray for Bournemouth v Tottenham – live!Get in touch: email Michael or tweet @michaelbutler18 12.50pm BST 18 min: Oooooooh, what a chance for James Wilson. The former Manchester United man hasn’t scored in 2019, and it showed there, as a fantastic cross found him all alone in front of goal, eight yards out. It was a little behind Wilson but he could only crash a volley down into the ground, with the ball bouncing behind off the top of the bar. Golden chance on his stronger foot. 12.48pm BST 16 min: Stewart has been Aberdeen’s best player by a mile, twice turning inside Scott Brown to find space. 12.47pm BST 14 min: From the resulting free kick, Ajer goes down in the box, claiming he was having his shirt tugged by Cosgrave. Ajer did make a meal of it, but there was definitely contact as the wayward cross sailed over his head for a goal kick. 12.45pm BST 12 min: Yellow card for Ball, who cynically trips McGregor as he is cantering down the left on a counter-attack. Ball was one of those Aberdeen players sent off against Celtic last month, for a tackle on Ryan Christie, who suffered “multiple fractures of the eye socket, jaw and cheekbone,” as a result. 12.43pm BST 10 min: Aberdeen finally get their foot on the ball. It’s taken 10 minutes. Ball sprays it right but it’s a loose cross from Logan. 12.41pm BST 8 min: Rogic does go down inside the box after a short corner routine, but the referee is having none of it. It was Cosgrave with the challenge, but it was a good’un. 12.39pm BST 6 min: Celtic applying some good early pressure. Lowe thinks about a risky challenge on Forrest inside the box, but just about pulls out. Aberdeen can’t get out. 12.38pm BST 5 min: Timothy Weah, making just his fourth start since his loan move from PSG, darts down the left, gets beyond Logan but his cross can’t find Edouard. 12.36pm BST 4 min: It’s been a slow start otherwise. Lewis signed a new five-year contract this week and is the only Aberdeen player to have played all 47 matches this season. 12.34pm BST 2 min: Tierney, who passed a fitness test and will have an operation this summer for a double hernia, gets to the byline and floats a lovely cross to the back post. Rogic climbs highest and nods down powerfully, but Lewis does well to parry the ball, and then pounce on it before any Celtic players can react. 12.33pm BST Peeeeep! And we’re off. 12.32pm BST There is a minute’s applause pre-match for Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, which both sets of fans keenly join in. The travelling Celtic faithful belt out “There’s only one Steve Chalmers” from the away end. 12.31pm BST The teams are out. Aberdeen are in their home scarlet kit, Celtic, in their green and white hoops, are lead out by Scott Brown.Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic de Glasgow. El capitán del Celtic, Scott Brown, tiene el balón, recibe dos entradas durísimas y un balonazo. La reacción es de mis favoritas. Menudo genio. pic.twitter.com/8HNyxWSZGA 12.26pm BST Speaking of discipline, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes will be in the stands today, serving a one-game SFA suspension after he was sent to the stands in the last meeting of the two sides for gesturing at Celtic fans. That was in the Scottish Cup semi-final, which Aberdeen lost 3-0, finishing the game with nine men. Related: Celtic waltz past nine-man Aberdeen in furious Scottish Cup semi-final 12.21pm BST Some quotes from Steven Gerrard have just dropped on PA. Rangers play tomorrow tomorrow and if they beat Hibs (and Celtic lose today) they will take the title ‘race’ to next weekend. Ibrox hosts the Old Firm Derby next Sunday. Steven Gerrard has hinted Alfredo Morelos may have to wait for his Rangers return after stressing he will show loyalty to the players who have stepped up during the Colombian’s suspension. Morelos was handed a four-game ban after aiming an elbow at Celtic skipper Scott Brown during the Old Firm derby in March. But the absence of their top-scorer has not slowed Rangers’ attack, with Jermain Defoe in good form and Gerrard’s team racking up 11 goals while cruising to four straight victories. 12.15pm BST Celtic’s current crop of players really do stand on the shoulders of giants, and two in particular. Related: 'Lisbon Lion' Billy McNeill – a life in pictures Related: Stevie Chalmers, scorer of Celtic’s 1967 European Cup final winner, dies at 83 12.12pm BST We can’t preview this game without mentioning Billy McNeill. The captain of the Lisbon Lions was laid to rest on Friday, and Celtic fans came out in their thousands to honour the great man. 12.04pm BST Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Devlin, McKenna, Lowe, Ball, Ferguson, Wilson, May, Stewart, Cosgrove. Subs: Virtanen, Halford, Cerny, Campbell, Dangana, Ethan Ross, MacKenzie. Celtic: Bain, Lustig, Simunovic, Ajer, Tierney, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Rogic, Weah, Edouard. Subs: Toljan, Sinclair, Hayes, Ntcham, De Vries, Burke, Benkovic. Referee: John Beaton (Scotland) 11.59am BST Hello world. Celtic are on the verge of their eighth successive title, which (even accounting for the skewed nature of Fitba) is a magnificent achievement. A win or draw at Aberdeen today will get them over the line – it will be the 50th time they have been named champions of Scotland (just four more to match Rangers’ 54, lads!). It is easy to scoff at all this, and while there is no doubt that anything but first place for the Bhoys would be an abject failure, it is also worth remembering that they lost their best striker (on deadline day last summer) and their manager (in February) and still look like they will canter over the line. Neil Lennon will be keen to have everything wrapped up today, because: Continue reading......read full article
