Celtic Back On Top | Celtic FC Supporters's Blog

Celtic continued their good form today with a 1-0 vitory over Aberdeen today. The Bhoys are now in first place in the Scottish Premier, two points ahead of Rangers, who have played three games less.

Celtic's lineup looked very different compared to their win against Rangers last Wednesday, with Gary Caldwell suspended and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Paul Hartley both injured. In their places were Bobo Balde, who made his first return to the starting XI to the delight of many fans, Georgios Samaras and Massimo Donati.

The game was at a deadlock for the entire first half and Celtic didn't score until the 56th minute when Samaras headed in a Barry Robson free kick.

Perhaps the player of the game, to many's surprise, was young defender Paul Caddis, who came on for Andreas Hinkel after halftime. Caddis played a huge role in keeping the Celt clean sheet, going as far as narrowly sliding into the path of the ball right before it rolled into the net for an Aberdeen equilizer. If he had not been there, the game would have surely finished as a 1-1 draw.

Aberdeen had a significant amount of shots on goal and even got a tally taken away late in the game when the Dons' Barry Nicholson was called for a handball, though replays show that it may in fact been otherwise. Scott Severin hit the post twice in the fourth minute of the game, just barely avoiding putting Aberdeen up front.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was disapointed with the team effort overall, despite the win, telling BBC Sport "Aberdeen were comfortable defensively. There was a lot of good stuff in the second half, but we couldn't finish."

Finishing seems to be Celtic's biggest monster this season, as every draw they get many shots on goal with few actually going in. Many of the Bhoy's losses and ties can be attributed to this, most recently their 1-0 loss to Motherwell when Celtic outplayed the opposition in every inch of the pitch but couldn't tally a goal.

If Celtic want to keep the Scottish Premier title, this will have to change in the closing weeks of this season. Though they may be in first, Rangers still hold a great advantage, and defeating Rangers again next Sunday in the final Old Firm meeting of the season is essential to the Bhoys winning again.

In fact, with four games remaining this season, every game will be essential, and Celtic need to come out strong and determined against their remaining opponents: Rangers, Motherwell, Hibernian and Dundee United, if they are to win the championship again.