Celtic Defeat The Dons In SPL Opener At Pittodrie

Aberdeen 1 Celtic 3

Celtic got the new Scottish Premier League season off to a good start with an easy 3-1 victory over the Dons at Pittodrie.

Aiden McGeady set the pace for the visitors, capturing a brace of goals, before Scott McDonald added a third, and all before the half-time whistle.

Aberdeen did get a consolation goal in the second-half, but they never really threatened to close the goal deficit further.

Celtic came roaring out of the starting gate with several good chances as soon as the game began, with McDonald, Maloney and McGeady all unlucky not to get the ball past Aberdeen's goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.

New signing Marc-Antoine Fortune was impressive in midfield and he was instrumental in Celtic's opener in the 29th minute. His shot, blocked by Langfield, rebounded to McGeady, who rifled the ball back past him into the net.

McGeady was again on target in the 42nd minute after collecting the ball outside the box, taking it past Kerr and firing another past a helpless Langfield.

McDonald sealed the win a couple of minutes later when he swooped onto a badly-cleared ball from Richard Foster and slamming the ball home with 44 minutes played.

New manager Tony Mowbray was happy with the win but also voiced some concerns, saying, "Particularly in the first half, with our domination, we should have given ourselves a bigger advantage.

"Then, in the second half, we allowed Aberdeen to score a goal.

"I'm not 100% happy but obviously delighted to get a win away from home. This is a difficult place to come. We've got things to work on."

Celtic's hopes of advancing into the UEFA Champions League group stage were tempered on Saturday after Arsenal demolished Everton by 6-1 at Goodison Park. If the Londoners defeat the Bhoys over the two legs (the second being played next Wednesday), then Celtic will fall to the group stage of the new Europa League.

Newspapers in England and Scotland are reporting that English Premier League outfit Hull City are interested in defender Andreas Hinkel, though manager Tony Mowbray expressed his opinion that a move for the right-back was unlikely in the short-term: "I don't think Andreas is in any rush to leave this football club and we are in no rush to move him on."