17-in-a-row for Forrest as Celtic take all three points | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSunday, December 21, 2025Celtic Park

CELTIC…3(Nygren 39, Tierney 88, Forrest 90 +2)

ABERDEEN…1(Bilalovic 74)

Celtic ran out 3-1 winners at Paradise this afternoon against Aberdeen, with James Forrest getting in on the scoring act to extend his scoring run to an extraordinary 17 consecutive seasons.

Much like at Tannadice during the week, Celtic found themselves with a big chance to take the lead early in the match when Daizen Maeda sent a dangerous ball across the face of goal towards Johnny Kenny, who was unable to make the required connection to send the ball in to the net from a few yards out.

That missed opportunity followed on from a Benjamin Nygren effort on goal which rose over the bar, and was quickly followed by an attempt from Arne Engels, whose powerful strike from the edge of the area followed the same trajectory as Nygren’s shot.

Whilst Celtic continued to press forward and look for opportunities, Aberdeen also looked to pose an attacking threat of their own and with 20 minutes on the clock, a brilliantly-timed sliding block from Auston Trusty prevented Topi Keskinen from hitting the target with a powerful shot from inside the box.

There was another glaring opportunity for Celtic to take the lead and this time the chance fell to Daizen Maeda. A cross in to the box was spilled by Aberdeen keeper, Mitov, and Maeda was first to react to the loose ball six yards out from goal but his strike drifted narrowly wide of the post.

Missed chances rapidly became the theme of the first half for Celtic, and Arne Engels was the next Celt to find himself shooting wide of the target from inside the box after some really well-worked build-up play on the right-hand side from the Hoops, who were coming closer to the opener with every attack.

The goal that Celtic deserved came with just over five minutes of the half remaining. Some excellent work from Yang to win the ball back in the midfield resulted in Luke McCowan threading the ball to Maeda. The Japanese forward whipped the ball across the box and Benjamin Nygren was on hand to slam it in to back of the net.

Luke McCowan came close to doubling Celtic’s lead when he produced a powerful shot from the edge of the box which drew a fine one-handed save from Dimitar Mitov, who rose quickly to tip the ball over the bar.

Just before the break, Aberdeen were reduced to 10 men when Dylan Lobban was shown a red card for hauling Daizen Maeda to the ground as he was running through on goal.

Within 90 seconds of the restart, Dimitar Mitov had produced two huge saves to keep his side in the match. The first stop came after Auston Trusty’s header towards goal from the back post, whilst the second denied Callum McGregor who lashed a shot towards the target from just inside the area.

The pressure from Celtic continued and Benjamin Nygren went agonisingly close to grabbing his second of the day when he clipped a ball towards the back post which ricocheted off the inside of the post and was gathered by the keeper before it could creep over the line.

The numerical advantage began to tell for Celtic, who were creating opportunities at will as the second half progressed, including a golden opportunity for Arne Engels who got his head to a brilliant cross from Kieran Tierney, but the Belgian’s headed effort crashed off the post and the scoreline remained 1-0.

With a little over 20 minutes remaining, Wilfried Nancy made a triple change, bringing Liam Scales, Shin Yamada and James Forrest on for Yang, Luke McCowan, and Johnny Kenny.

Aberdeen equalised on the counter-attack with 15 minutes left of the match and it was two substitutes who combined to find the goal. Kjartansson fed a good ball through towards Kenan Bilalovic who, in turn, fired a shot towards goal. Kasper Schmeichel got a touch on the ball but it wasn’t enough to keep it out of the net.

With time ticking on, it looked as though the match might be heading for a draw, but with only a few minutes of the 90 remaining, Kieran Tierney popped up with a massive goal to put Celtic back in front.

Colby Donovan picked up the ball on the right wing and swung a ball deep towards the back post, where Tierney was able to finish with his head and give the Hoops the lead.

There was still enough time left for an early Christmas present for James Forrest and Celtic, with the winger grabbing a goal in stoppage time to make it 3-1 to Celtic and extend his scoring record to an incredible 17 consecutive seasons, equalling Bobby Lennox’s Celtic record, with only Jimmy McMenemy ahead on 18 consecutive campaigns.