He’s gone and tipped the Scales
aberdeen ..... rangers ....... 2 0
Rejuvenated aberdeen made it seven straight wins under interim boss Barry Robson.
the Light Blues had the best of a goalless first half — but three minutes after the restart, dons defender Liam Scales beat Gers keeper allan McGregor with a stunning if somewhat fortuitous effort from wide on the left. It was his first goal since signing on loan from Celtic last summer.
Striker Bojan Miovski headed in a second in the 56th minute to help aberdeen to their first home win over Rangers since September 2016.
Rangers are 13 points behind Premiership leaders Celtic with five post-split fixtures left — so all the pressure has now shifted on to the Scottish Cup, the Gers’ last realistic chance of silverware this season.
It was a sobering defeat before the crunch cup semifinal date with Celtic.
Escaped
the unchanged visitors first threatened in the 12th minute when striker alfredo Morelos’s turn and shot from eight yards, after a Fashion Sakala knockdown, was headed off the line by Leighton Clarkson, and
Gers midfielder john Lundstram fired the loose ball over.
dons keeper Kelle Roos then saved an effort from Sakala after the Gers attacker escaped the attention of Mattie Pollock.
In the 25th minute, a sweeping Gers move ended with left-back Borna Barisic striking the outside of the post with a drive.
Rangers skipper james tavernier was involved in aberdeen’s goal. His pass up to Morelos was cut out by the alert Scales, who then launched what looked like a cross from the left which flew over McGregor and in at the far post.
there was no doubt about the intention of aberdeen’s second, which came from Clarkson’s sumptuous cross to the back post. Miovski headed back across McGregor and into the net, after he had peeled off Barisic and davies, the goal confirmed after a long vaR check.
eLON Musk’s expensive spaceship apparently suffered an unscheduled disassembly at the weekend.
The billionaire could have done with Stuart Kettlewell in the command centre.
The Motherwell boss has constructed a side so solid that it would keep its shape even if it was launched into the stratosphere — or bombarded by a Celtic attack that comes at teams like a meteor shower.
ange Postecoglou’s side have been out of this world at Parkhead this season, but were brought crashing down to earth by Kettlewell’s band of battlers and their big star — Kevin van veen — up front.
They just didn’t give the Hoops any space, man.
Celtic spilling a couple of points at this stage shouldn’t turn the planet on its axis.
It was the first time this season, for starters, and it ended a run of 17 straight domestic wins — although it won’t have much effect on the destination of the Scottish title.
“The performance probably wasn’t at the level we have been reaching,” said the Celtic supremo.
“First half was okay, we controlled the game really well and got our goal, had opportunities to get another.
“Then we conceded a really poor goal and that gives them something to hold on to.
“We had chances to go on and win it but there was desperation around our play.
“We lacked that composure in the box.
“It’s a disappointing outcome. We need to lick our wounds, review it and move on.
“there are going to be times when you stumble, the important thing is to get back up and go again.”
Badly missing key men such as Jota and Reo Hatate, Celtic were not quite themselves for once as they failed to launch.
But a lot of that was down to Motherwell.
What a job Kettlewell has done at Fir Park.
It wasn’t so long ago this Motherwell defence self-destructed on a weekly basis.
Scottish Premiership safety isn’t quite in the bag yet, but it’s not far off, and that’s a fairly incredible achievement given most folk felt this squad had a one-way ticket to the Championship.
Masterclass
Kettlewell did a number on Celtic when he was Ross County boss, on that infamous day when Covidshutout Hoop fans lobbed a few fences.
But this point was arguably an even greater managerial masterclass.
Kettlewell’s 5-3-1-1 formation gave him safety in numbers and by leaving van veen up top, it retained an attacking threat.
Celtic can be got at with the occasional ball over the top and that’s what happened after 55 minutes when their corner kick resulted in the ball in the net.
Callum Slattery’s arching long ball set Van Veen loose.
He sent Greg Taylor for the weekly shopping and the found the bottom bin.
It showed the Parkhead juggernaut can be stopped and Postecoglou admitted himself that his men were not quite at it.
In fairness, the Hoops boss did make some tactical tweaks with Tomoki Iwata and McGregor in the midfield, making it more of a 4-2-3-1 than the usual 4-3-3.
It’s a line up that Postecoglou shifted to during games with Rangers in recent times and it caused confusion for the Ibrox side.
Yet it wasn’t a formation thing on Saturday.
It was more of a personnel problem.
Celtic just didn’t have their usual verve without jota on the wing, Reo Hatate in the middle and Leil abada coming off the bench.
Nothing much was coming off for the usually-deadly Kyogo Furuhashi, either, although Celtic still had enough chances to squeeze out another win mind.
Fifteen attempts on goal and five on target would get the job done most weeks but it was still about half as many as usual.
Well had to ride their luck at times, while relying on Kelly and his defenders to make heroic blocks.
Ahead of Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers, there will be no pre-Hampden panic inside Parkhead.
But Postecoglou knows if it’s going to be lift-off for the Treble, his side Musk do better.