Match ends, Celtic 0, Aberdeen 0.
Celtic 0-0 Aberdeen: Neil Lennon draws first game back at Parkhead
- From the section Scottish Premiership
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Celtic missed the chance to stretch their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 10 points as they were held at home by Aberdeen.
Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard went closest for the hosts, who were unable to earn manager Neil Lennon a win on his Parkhead return.
Dom Ball and Connor McLennan passed up the best of the Dons' chances.
The draw means Celtic are eight points clear of second-placed Rangers and 16 ahead of Aberdeen in third.
The hosts had the better of the opportunities but could find no way through as these sides shared a goalless draw for the first time since 1994.
Both sides fail to cut through
Injury deprived Aberdeen of Gary Mackay Steven and Niall McGinn, but there were still plenty of attacking options in Derek McInnes' XI.
Sam Cosgrove, Greg Stewart, James Wilson and Connor McLennan all started and it was a brave approach from the away side, who were on a club record-equalling run of seven away wins in a row.
That was always going to be tricky against a Celtic side aiming to go 10 points clear, but it would work for the majority of the first half, with Wilson, Graeme Shinnie and Lewis Ferguson going toe to toe with Scott Brown, Nir Bitton and Ewan Henderson in the middle of the park.
Chances were hard to come by. There was a huge penalty shout from the home crowd when Oliver Burke went down under challenge from Andy Considine, but there was not enough in it for the officials.
The game needed a moment of individual brilliance to open things up. Ajer cruised forward to the edge of the box, the Norwegian defender unleashing a low shot which Joe Lewis just managed to push wide. It would be the closest either side would come to making the breakthrough in a quiet first half hour.
Then right on the stroke of half-time, Ajer would have another go. This time, the centre-half bulleted a header into the net from a free kick, but the flag was up for offside.
Celtic had dominated in terms of possession in the first half but there was a much more even feel to the early stages of the second half.
First, Aberdeen worked their way into the Celtic box, Ball with a near-post shot well saved by Scott Bain. And at the other end there was a chance from a similar angle for Celtic substitute Edouard, but Lewis made the block.
Timothy Weah had a great chance for Celtic from a header but he misjudged his leap slightly and the chance was gone. Another substitute, Mikey Johnston, then flashed an effort across the face of the Aberdeen goal. Minutes later he would squander another chance, firing well wide.
Ferguson would test Bain with a free-kick from 20 yards and there was an even better chance for Stevie May in the 90th minute, but his header from just four yards out flew high over the bar.
'Decent outcome for both sides' - analysis
Celtic Park was packed for Lennon's homecoming, but it would fall slightly flat as the champions 100% domestic record at home this season finally came to an end. However they remain in complete command of the Premiership, eight points clear of Rangers in second place.
This was also the end of the remarkable Aberdeen away record. But in the end this would be very decent preparation for McInnes' side ahead of their Scottish Cup quarter-final replay with Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday. Aberdeen were organised, resolute and worthy of their point.
Line-ups
Celtic
- 29Bain
- 2Toljan
- 20BoyataBooked at 41mins
- 35Ajer
- 63Tierney
- 6Bitton
- 8Brown
- 49Forrest
- 52HendersonSubstituted forEdouardat 45'minutes
- 11SinclairSubstituted forJohnstonat 45'minutes
- 25BurkeSubstituted forWeahat 78'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Hendry
- 15Hayes
- 22Edouard
- 23Lustig
- 24de Vries
- 30Weah
- 73Johnston
Aberdeen
- 1Lewis
- 21Ball
- 4Considine
- 5McKenna
- 29Lowe
- 7StewartBooked at 75minsSubstituted forMayat 88'minutes
- 19Ferguson
- 3Shinnie
- 27McLennanSubstituted forRossat 90+3'minutes
- 16Cosgrove
- 9WilsonSubstituted forCampbellat 45'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Gleeson
- 14Halford
- 17May
- 18Devlin
- 24Campbell
- 30Craddock
- 33Ross
- Referee:
- Craig Thomson
- Attendance:
- 59,123
Match Stats
Home TeamCelticAway TeamAberdeen
- Possession
- Home66%
- Away34%
- Shots
- Home8
- Away6
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away2
- Corners
- Home11
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away11
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Celtic 0, Aberdeen 0.
Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Scott McKenna (Aberdeen).
Substitution
Substitution, Aberdeen. Ethan Ross replaces Connor McLennan.
Attempt missed. Stevie May (Aberdeen) header from very close range is too high.
Attempt saved. Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Foul by Kristoffer Ajer (Celtic).
Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Aberdeen. Stevie May replaces Greg Stewart.
Attempt missed. Michael Johnston (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Max Lowe.
Attempt missed. Greg Stewart (Aberdeen) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Timothy Weah (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen).
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott McKenna.
Substitution
Substitution, Celtic. Timothy Weah replaces Oliver Burke.
Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Jeremy Toljan.
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen).
Booking
Greg Stewart (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Attempt blocked. Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Odsonne Edouard (Celtic).
Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Hand ball by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen).
Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Jeremy Toljan.
Attempt blocked. Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Kristoffer Ajer.
Attempt blocked. Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Oliver Burke (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott McKenna.
Attempt blocked. Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked.
Foul by Jeremy Toljan (Celtic).
Connor McLennan (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
