FREQUENT FLYER TOM GETS POINTS
Rogic shows Brown how to handle dual demands of club and country as he sends the Dons packing
AS Scott Brown played his first Celtic game since coming out of Scotland retirement, a team-mate with a far more exhausting international schedule fired the champions 10 points clear of Aberdeen.
Long-haul flights this autumn are doing Tom Rogic no harm. He is off to Thailand with Australia in little over a week on World Cup qualifying duty. Perhaps rarely being asked to complete 90 minutes helps.
Whatever the key to his best Celtic form, the 23-year-old’s seventh goal of the season — a sublime finish — was the difference between the best two teams in the country here.
Even before the clocks went back last night, there was considerable daylight in the Ladbrokes Premiership table between champions and supposed challengers thanks to the outcome of this Betfred Cup Final rehearsal.
Yet there was at no stage a feeling of resignation within the ranks marshalled by Derek McInnes.
Aberdeen’s endeavours were greeted with applause from their fans following a late onslaught, during which the Dons boss believed his side should have earned a penalty kick for Jozo Simunovic grabbing at Graeme Shinnie.
Brendan Rodgers had asked his winning-spree side to learn how to grind out a 1-0 here and there. This was the result in an art form, with Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko excelling in their duties as Aberdeen cranked up the threat through the second-half appearances of James Maddison and Adam Rooney.
At the venue where Celtic under Ronny Deila succumbed twice to 2-1 defeats last season, this was a powerful statement.
Celtic skipper Brown claimed through the week that Aberdeen had tried to bully them in recent clashes, words that Sviatchenko paid heed to as he hauled down Jonny Hayes to collect a booking after 57 seconds.
That was a tone-setter for a scrappy opening period punctuated by fouls as physical supremacy was fought for.
McInnes, who started captain Ryan Jack for the first time since August 13, went with a pace angle in his team selection, Wes Burns promoted from the start.
The possession edge was with the visitors, though, and there were few better at deciding the destiny of the football than Rogic. It was such a clever finish for the only goal. He looked the coolest customer at Pittodrie amid all the early bedlam to guide home on 24 minutes.
Rogic was grateful to a poor clearing header from Shay Logan, with the ball dropping kindly his way just outside the penalty box.
The Aussie took a touch on the bounce to control then steered a fabulous finish past Joe Lewis with the outside of his left boot. It looked so casual but it was classic in its execution.
That said, McInnes will have viewed it as a soft one to concede to the champions, who had put four past his side at Parkhead in September, after which the Dons had conceded only four in eight matches.
Rogic was a keen runner from midfield beyond Moussa Dembele in search of a second goal as Celtic tried to pick him out from ghosting runs on numerous occasions.
Deep into Aberdeen territory, his evasive work should have resulted in Celtic taking a cosy two-goal advantage in at the break. Stuart Armstrong’s arrival in the box to match Rogic’s cutback was timed to perfection. The sidefoot shot from eight yards out skewed wide.
Celtic hoped they had doused much of the early fire within the Dons with the Rogic strike, but the threats whenever the home side broke did require stout defending from Simunovic and Sviatchenko.
Their positioning was key to smoking out the best two chances of the first period, as the Dane blocked from Niall McGinn then his partner took the sting out of Andy Considine’s volley to allow Craig Gordon to gather. With Rogic (left) in inspired form and Armstrong, preferred to Nir Bitton, bustling forward at every chance from his central role, the Celtic wide men were itching to have a say.
Step forward Scott Sinclair with the outstanding league scoring record of eight in nine games to enhance. His fierce right-foot drive was destined for the top corner until Lewis produced a blinding save to divert over the crossbar.
It was the first of four outstanding stops early in the second period that would keep the introduction of Maddison and Rooney relevant for the rest of the game.
The ex-Cardiff City keeper denied Dembele then twice saved from Rogic, who Aberdeen just never got a handle on all afternoon.
When the Aussie inevitably saw his number go up on 70 minutes, on came the security measure of Bitton to try to help crowd Maddison out of being the creative gamechanger.
The energy in Celtic closing ranks whenever Aberdeen forged forward was impressive but Brown took his aggressive streak too far as a shoving match broke out 10 minutes from time.
Shinnie was stricken on the turf after a Mikael Lustig foul and Brown needlessly booted the ball at his floored counterpart, sparking angry scenes. Hayes barged Brown to the ground as referee Steven McLean intervened.
Shinnie was well enough to stare down Gordon on the stroke of normal time as Pittodrie willed an equaliser. A last-ditch slide tackle from Sviatchenko was celebrated by the centre-half like a goalkeeper saving a penalty.
Perhaps a spot-kick would have been more apt because it appeared that Shinnie was fouled by Simunovic as he drove into the area.
Five pulsating additional minutes featured a siege on Celtic’s goal as, typically, Aberdeen were honest to the very end.
Maddison was finding more room for manoeuvre. He volleyed over then crafted a succession of deliveries into the box. From two such free-kicks, up came keeper Lewis as Aberdeen sensed all the urgency around the situation of watching Celtic become a more distant target at the top of the league.
Then Celtic’s keeper made the hardearned points safe. Sviatchenko, faultless for most of the afternoon, headed Maddison’s wicked set-piece straight at his own goal. Gordon pushed the ball up and over his bar.