Kieran Tierney the hero as Celtic sink Aberdeen at Pittodrie

The player who has more minutes in his legs than other top flight footballers this season instead ran the length of the park – the same pitch he had bolted from one end of to the other to take Moussa Dembele’s pass – to celebrate with the Celtic support.

He might be one of their own but there is so much more to Tierney than a supporter with a jersey.

Watched by new Scotland manager Alex McLeish, Tierney will have further impressed his credentials for top level football.

The player’s goal was his own game in a nutshell; the athleticism, the scorching finish, the drive to get on the end of the ball in the first place.

For Celtic yesterday it set the seal on a game in which they had spent the bulk of the second period on the backfoot as Aberdeen had come after them for a leveller at Pittodrie.

Had Derek McInnes’ side went about their business in the opening-half in the same manner they did the second, they may well have posed further problems for Celtic.

As it was, Dembele’s first-half header and Tierney’s second with seven minutes on the clock gave Celtic’s scoreline a gloss it did not entirely merit.

Both teams finished the game with ten men – Mikael Lustig off for a second yellow and Dons sub Sam Cosgrove off for a shocking lunge on Scott Brown – but that was the only collateral damage Celtic sustained from their trek north.

And, in many ways this one was all about simply coming out unscathed.

On the back of a morale sapping defeat in St Petersburg on Thursday night and coupled with Rangers’ win over Hearts on Saturday, the game against Aberdeen was about taking the points and re-establish the 9-point lead at the top.

There were one or two antsy moments in the opening period when Celtic looked leggy and weary but there was a similar story in terms of enjoying the bulk of the chances but without being able to capitalise on them.

In the middle of the park Tom Rogic was back in the starting line-up and both he and Olivier Ntcham caught the eye. Ntcham had a couple of fine weighted chips over the top and while they ultimately proved fruitless, it at least offered a direct element to Celtic’s play which was not always visible in the opening stages.

Dembele ought to have opened the scoring after a decent bit of play from Scott Sinclair but after picking out the striker, Dembele seemed to dither and was dispossessed as he went to shoot. Rogic’s follow-up effort was blocked too but it at least injected a little creativity into the performance.

Aberdeen set out to contain Celtic in an effort to frustrate and hit on the break. However, judging by the still uncertain backline visible in the Parkhead defence, they might have had a bit more joy with a bolder set-up.

Gary-Mackay Steven slipped the ball through Lustig’s legs at one stage before delivering a cross that had no takers while Chidiebere Nwakali tried his luck from distance.

As the game wore on Celtic slowly took control. When Dembele finally made the breakthrough with a header at the back post it was James Forrest who deserved to take the plaudits for his part in the goal.

The Scotland internationalist has enjoyed his best season to date at Celtic and his footwork left Aberdeen’s Andrew Considine scrambling. His delivery into the box laid the goal on a plate for Dembele to nod home.

Interestingly, every Celtic player – with the exception of Dorus de Vries between the sticks – was involved in the celebration as the team regrouped following their sobering Europa League exit.

There, remains, though, a softer centre about Celtic than was visible at any point last term. At one stage in the second period Anthony O’Connor was allowed to advance unchallenged and slip the ball into the feet of Mackay-Steven.

The winger’s delivery into the box ought to have been buried by Stevie May, but the Aberdeen striker laboured to get on the end of it and the chance was lost.

Dembele’s goal had seemed to give Aberdeen permission to change their system as they came at Celtic more aggressively. For large chunks of the second period, the Parkhead side found it difficult to exert any genuine pressure on the Dons defence as the game was played out largely in their own half.

The Pittodrie side thought they had a leveller with a triple chance that Celtic somehow managed to keep out. Kenny McLean had the initial shot which was parried by Dorus De Vries. Niall McGinn had the follow-up that Simunovic cleared before Lustig had to head off his own line from a subsequent rebound.

If Celtic were living dangerously then they moved a little closer to the edge immediately after.

Lustig’s pass inside his own half was clipped and short, allowing Mackay-Steven to seize the ball. Realising the error, the Swede crudely bundled into the former Celtic winger, an infringement that inevitably saw Bobby Madden pull out a red following Lustig’s booking in the opening half, with the player left with his head in his hands.

Within minutes Celtic had put the game to bed after a cracking counter attack. Dembele broke with speed and it was Tierney who ran forward in support.

The Scotland internationalist took the ball from Dembele and with Edouard breaking, opted to go for goal himself. He unleashed a ferocious finish high into the net to seal the points.

The drama wasn’t quite, over, however.

Aberdeen sub Cosgrove steamed into a two-footed lunge on Brown as the Celtic captain was getting to his feet. The red came out again but by that stage it was over and done with.