TOP of the league with six points and no goals conceded the Bhoys may be, but Celtic fans will have headed home this afternoon after a routine two-goal win over Aberdeen with the distinct feeling that this squad may struggle with the many tougher challenges that lie ahead.
If Dons boss Jimmy Thelin demanded a response after his side's craven capitulation against Hearts on their first outing of the season last week, the despondent Pittodrie faithful would be fully justified in questioning his motivational skills. Because his team laid hardly a glove on a Celtic team whose intensity level would almost certainly have been insufficient to pass a sterner test.
A man-of-the-match performance from Swedish new boy Benjamin Nygren provided abundant evidence of the benefits to be reaped by Celtic from an infusion of new blood in what remains of the transfer window. His sharp and classy near-post finish on 27 minutes – rifling a trademark low Kieran Tierney cross past Dimitar Mitrov – was the high point of a confident and creative performance that will be provide a massive boost to his confidence and, crucially, his standing among the fans.
A high-energy start from Aberdeen petered out after a top corner-bound eighth-minute effort from the lively Adil Aouchiche produced a top-drawer save from Kasper Schmeichel.
Celtic took control of the game after that but their rising possession percentage contained very little in the way of dynamism or threat – until Tierney surged to the byline to provide an assist that reminded the fans of what they were missing during his patchy sojourn south of the border.
Any hopes in the away dug-out that Nygren's strike would spark an improvement in intent were soon dashed, however, as Celtic resumed the pedestrian pace, with Reo Hatate and skipper Callum McGregor too often settling for the safe and sideways pass.
The second half proved equally lacklustre, with Aberdeen continuing to be offered breakaway opportunities by Celtic's lack of care and concentration, but lacking the quality to punish the visitors.
The killer blow for Aberdeen, when it came, was so sublime in its execution that it might even have made the Celtic fans forget what had gone before. That man Nygren took possession wide on the right in the 66th minute before feeding Hatate on the edge of the box. The diminutive Japanese playmaker's touch and fierce, curling shot into the top corner ended Aberdeen's resistance, such as it was, as surely as it started the goal of the season shortlist.
To the fore among the many questions thrown up by Celtic's second unconvincing win of the season is 'What's to be done with Adam Idah?' It was another desperately disappointing outing for the big Irish frontman whose Celtic glory days on loan from Norwich seem a very long time ago indeed. His control and lay-off weren't just off, they were non-existent. More often than not his second touch was a tackle or a chase and his 67th-minute substitution seemed as much an act of mercy as a tactical change.
His replacement, Japanese debutant Shin Yamada, had very little chance to shine in his 20 minutes, but no-one will be surprised if he gets the nod next time out.
