Six on the beach

ABERDEEN 0 - CELTIC 6 IT may sound unlikely, but for a moment Celtic nursed a grievance at Pittodrie. When Mark Viduka lifted a delicate shot over Jim Leighton, the only neutral observers in the stadium who did not recognise that the ball had crossed the line were referee Mike McCurry and his linesman.

It was an injustice which briefly simmered awaiting eruption at full-time. By then, though, Celtic's indignation had disappeared along with every trace of the optimism Aberdeen had carried into the game. Their performance was by no means their worst under Ebbe Skovdahl, but the brutal reality was the most dismal result suffered at home under even his dreadful reign.

"John Barnes In Crisis" is a relatively fresh headline, but as newspaper supplements groan under the weight of millennium reviews it is beginning to seem as dated as Boer War retrospectives. Ten goals scored in two games, with none conceded, have hauled Barnes and his players back to respectability. When he talked after the game of having destroyed Aberdeen earlier in the season via methodical team displays, while relying on individual flair yesterday, he sounded like a teenager gradually discovering what all the knobs and buttons were for on his new Ferrari.

"Everyone will look at the result and see 6-0 but I think Aberdeen have come a long way since our first two games against them," said Barnes. "It was very satisfying for us, the more so because Aberdeen gave a much more spirited and committed performance. I think, overall, that 6-0 flattered us a bit."

Six separate goalscorers indicated the diversity of threat unleashed upon Aberdeen, but it was Viduka - scoring only once was unusually abstemious for him given his record against the Dons - who was isolated for praise by the manager. "I think Mark Viduka has been fantastic this season, he has been since Henrik Larsson's injury. His overall play has been tremendous. He has got pace, power, skill - he has got everything."

Viduka was a prowling menace to Aberdeen throughout. Celtic may have ridiculed reports of a #6m move to Lens last weekend, but a fee on that scale, at least, is beyond scorn. Going AWOL almost immediately from Parkhead and subsequently spitting on a fellow player persuaded some Celtic supporters to handle Viduka with caution, as if awaiting a fresh crisis. This season, though, he has been an unheralded revelation in Barnes's side.

Aberdeen had no answer to him, although, by the end, they were similarly perplexed by several others. Home victories over Rangers and Hearts and encouraging early performances from several of Skovdahl's eight signings had created an aura of sprightly optimism. Celtic trampled it into the Pittodrie turf. They have now scored 26 goals against Aberdeen this year. The Dons are reluctant to contemplate life outwith the SPL, but while Celtic remain in the same division, any run of form seems guaranteed to suffer at least four derailments each season.

Yet, they gave Celtic early difficulties. They attempted to isolate the Celtic back three by stretching them across the width of the park, with Arild Stavrum on the right, Eoin Jess through the middle and Robbie Winters pushing forward from right midfield. This tactic reaped benefits only until Celtic's opener. Stavrum slipped away from Olivier Tebily and struck a shot with the outside of his right foot which slipped narrowly past a post. By the time the Dons came close again, from a long-range Cato Guntveit shot, Celtic had scored twice.

Lambert's opener doubled as one of those rare reminders of what he can do when given licence to push forward. Collecting a half- clearance from Derek Whyte, he played a one-two with Viduka before lashing a left-foot shot high to Jim Leighton's top right corner from 18 yards. From a right-footed player who had not scored all season, it was a superbly clean strike.

Sloppiness crept into Aberdeen's play and Celtic seized on it like piranhas on a bleeding wound. When Mark Perry drifted in from right- back, Berkovic struck a diagonal ball behind him to Stephane Mahe. The French defender will now begin a three-game suspension, but he has a goal to play over in his mind after cutting in from the left and burying a low, right-foot shot beyond Leighton.

The zest and verve which had enlivened Aberdeen's early play was quickly replaced by hesitancy and carelessness. Skovdahl attempted to inject fresh life by introducing Hicham Zerouali and Rachid Belabed, but the Moroccans will have to wait to become central figures at Pittodrie. Against Celtic, they were starved of possession and peripheral to a game which accelerated away from their team.

Four goals were conceded in the final half hour. Lubo Moravcik, denied the cavernous adulation of Celtic Park, was again a less convincing force away from home, but after one uncharacteristically wayward effort he performed the necessary readjustment of his sights to add a skillful third goal midway through the second half. The Slovak cut in from the right touchline and skipped past Whyte and Jamie McAllister before smashing a shot to Leighton's left.

After three memorable goals, the game's outstanding player added a mundane fourth. Stubbs's long pass had Ian Wright and Viduka scampering in pursuit but, when it ought to have been Leighton's ball, the 41-year-old either slipped or entirely misjudged the pass and Viduka rolled the ball into the net.

The Australian, yet to celebrate a year in Scotland, has now scored eight goals against Aberdeen. "Viduka has caused us a lot of problems," admitted Skovdahl. "He is so big, strong and skillful. He's capable of holding up the ball on his own until his team-mates arrive in support. That is a great quality for Celtic."

Eyal Berkovic showed similar class before fading while Celtic were impenetrable in defence and coherent across the middle. For the second consecutive week they indulged themselves when Morten Wieghorst wrapped his right leg behind his left - an extravagant trick - and flicked a ball across Aberdeen's penalty area for Regi Blinker to score with a back-post volley.

The Dons, by then utterly disjointed, lost a sixth with three minutes left when Wright arrowed a shot into the net through a crowded penalty area .

The Moroccans, dejected in the rain, did not seem to know what had hit them. They were not alone.

Copyright 1999
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