Missed chances but Celtic ahead at half time, Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen | OneFootball

The half time whistle sounded at Celtic Park with the Hoops in front by a margin of one goal to nil.

The match took a familiar pattern in SPFL matches, with Nancy’s Celtic side creating clear cut chances and missing them. In recent games those missed opportunities have been rued as the second 45 has seen a drop off in performance and goals being conceded. Hopefully that is not the case this afternoon!

Irish man Johnny Kenny missed a couple of clear cut chances, including when the ball was squared to him on 34 minutes but with the keeper on the ground the striker could only blaze wide from just outside the box.

Kenny’s brace of misses in front of goal were coupled with Daizen Maeda missing golden chances with some erratic finishing and Nygren flashing a volley across the face of goal from an acute angle.

The chance conversion in recent fixtures has been utterly abysmal and perhaps symptomatic of the club selling Kyogo and Idah without adequately replacing the front men. Meanwhile, the goalscoring midfield exploits of Matt O’Riley in recent years have still yet to be replaced either.

The football thus far has been dynamic and the performance good, despite that positivity not being reflected in the way of atmosphere as Parkhead has been silent from kick off – no surprise with the Green Brigade ultras being banned!

The goal did finally arrive for Celtic just prior to the interval, when Maeda picked up the ball out wide and cut back to Nygren. The Swedish midfielder couldn’t miss from close range and with the goal begging, he cooly stroked home.

Aberdeen had a rare moment of their own on 42 minutes, when Ralston couldn’t stop his opposite number out wide. The Dons winger then smashed a shot destined for the roof the net, but Kasper did well to turn the drive round his near post. The resultant corner kick also saw Aberdeen go close as a well worked set piece saw the ball reach the edge of the box, only for the incoming shot to flash narrowly wide.

Celtic had another say in the action in the final minute of normal time in the half. Luke McCowan tested the goalkeeper with a strong left footed effort from 20 yards on that occasion. A corner followed and Engels put in a fantastic cross, which Trusty was just unable to turn goalwards.

Seconds prior to the referee blowing the half time whistle, the Aberdeen goalkeeper played a poor pass out from the back, which the industrious Daizen Maeda latched onto. The Japanese speedster broke clear and was brought down by the final Dons defender who duly received a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Overall it has been a good first half at Paradise. Celtic are in a very commanding position. More of the same will be needed to see this through and pick up valuable points in the title race.