Aberdeen 4 v Celtic 4

Aberdeen staged a thrilling comeback to share eight goals with Celtic.

The Dons levelled twice before half-time, shots by Michael Paton and Darren Mackie eclipsing strikes by Diomansy Kamara and Marc-Antoine Fortune.

Robbie Keane’s header and Aiden McGeady’s powerful drive looked to have sealed the points for Celtic.

But Steven MacLean’s double, the first a penalty, restored parity before Celtic’s Darren O’Dea was sent off for a second booking in injury time.

Celtic started on the front foot, Edson Braafheid firing a free-kick over in the first minute.

But it was not long until the visitors were in front as Aberdeen’s Sone Aluko conceded possession deep inside his own half and McGeady burst into the box before squaring to Keane.

The on-loan Tottenham striker’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, but Kamara was on-hand to blast home the rebound.

Aberdeen regrouped and took full advantage of a free-kick opportunity after Kamara had fouled Mackie.

Charlie Mulgrew’s delivery was cleared and returned into the penalty area before dropping invitingly for Paton, who rifled a left-foot volley into the net.

Another free-kick by Mulgrew, this time a shot, was punched away by Artur Boruc as the hosts kept up the pressure.

At the other end, Langfield comfortably dealt with a Fortune shot moments before diving low to deny Keane.

Celtic got back in front in the 36th minute when Scott Brown powered his way into the Aberdeen half and found Keane on the right and the Irishman’s pin-point low cross was slammed home by Fortune.

But, a minute later, Aberdeen were level again as Jim Paterson’s excellent cross came off the head of Braafheid and Mackie chested the ball down before volleying past Boruc.

A Mackie header into the box early in the second half almost put MacLean in on goal and the striker came into collision with Boruc as Celtic cleared frantically.

Celtic moved to the other end and Kamara’s corner was headed towards goal by Josh Thompson, forcing Langfield to palm away.

Aberdeen came close to going ahead when MacLean’s shot was saved by Boruc, Braafheid clearing before the home side had the opportunity to pounce.

Fortune and Landry N’Guemo were replaced by Morten Rasmussen and Sung-Yong Ki seconds before Keane headed Celtic back into the lead from Kamara’s lofted cross.

Celtic looked to close the game out and McGeady’s vicious shot was blocked by the finger-tips of Langfield.

Langfield made another impressive save to palm Braafheid’s free-kick over.

But, from the resulting corner, McGeady collected Ki’s pass, worked his way into the box and hammered a shot past Langfield.

Braafheid’s handball gave Aberdeen a lifeline with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, Boruc unable to stop MacLean’s spot-kick finding the net.

Keane’s replacement, Georgios Samaras, teed up Ki for a shot, which was superbly saved by Langfield.

MacLean was denied a leveller by Boruc’s point-blank save after the forward had latched on to Paton’s knock-down.

But MacLean did get his second with two minutes left as Paton’s corner caused chaos in the Celtic defence and the on-loan Plymouth striker diverted Mackie’s shot into the net.

As the match moved into injury time, Braafheid’s controlled volley clipped the crossbar on its way out.

O’Dea had earlier been booked in the aftermath of McGeady’s goal and the defender was dismissed when his late challenge on Gary McDonald resulted in a second caution.


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