Aberdeen 0 Celtic 1:A HARD-FOUGHT victory for Celtic was overshadowed by the likelihood of a long-term absence for Emilio Izaguirre. The Honduran full-back, Scotland's player of the year last season and rated at €11 million amid admiring glances from England, suffered a broken right leg early on at Pittodrie.
“It is a huge blow for us and the player,” said Celtic’s manager, Neil Lennon. “It’s his fibula, it’s fractured. I don’t know how long he will be out for, he is being assessed just now to see whether or not he requires surgery. If he does, it will be three months anyway.”
The 25-year-old landed badly amid what was a legal challenge by the Aberdeen midfielder Peter Pawlett, after 15 minutes. Lennon held his head in his hands when informed by his club doctor during the match about the diagnosis for Izaguirre.
“You can tell by the player’s reaction,” Lennon said. “Emilio isn’t the type to feign injury. The concern was immediate. We might have to look now for a left-back.”
Otherwise, Lennon could take comfort from the claiming of three points in a match where his team failed to reach anything like their best. That said, Aberdeen’s lack of punch meant a scoreless draw always looked like the worst Celtic would take back to Glasgow.
More encouraging for Lennon was the confident competitive debut of the former Cardiff defender Adam Matthews. A flurry of activity in front of the Aberdeen goal immediately before the interval belied a poor first half. Celtic’s Gary Hooper watched an effort deflected over the crossbar, with Scott Vernon’s long-range attempt the closest the hosts came to breaking the deadlock.
Celtic had a penalty claim denied when Hooper looked to be hauled to the ground by Andrew Considine.
Anthony Stokes provided the definitive intervention. Kris Commons robbed Ricky Foster in starting the move which Stokes rounded off. After an interchange of passes between the pair, Stokes fired home Commons’ cutback for his second goal in as many league matches.
There seemed little chance of an Aberdeen revival, James Forrest and Georgios Samaras going close to doubling Celtic’s lead. Polish goalkeeper Grzegorz Sandomierski could arrive in Glasgow today, with Celtic closing in on a deal for the 21-year-old. “He is a goalie we like and someone with huge potential,” Lennon said.
ABERDEEN: Gonzalez, McArdle, Arnason, Considine, Foster, Mackie (Low 87), Osbourne, Milsom, Pawlett (Paton 72), Magennis (Megginson 82), Vernon. Subs not used: Jason Brown, Robertson, Shaughnessy, Jordan Brown. Booked: Pawlett, Osbourne.
CELTIC: Zaluska, Matthews, Kelvin Wilson, Majstorovic, Izaguirre (Mulgrew 17), Ki, Ledley (Forrest 63), Kayal, Commons, Stokes (Samaras 82), Hooper. Subs not used: Cervi, Maloney, McCourt, Wanyama. Booked: Majstorovic.
Referee: C Murray (Scotland).
