Aberdeen came to Hampden looking to make a statement against Celtic, despite history being very much against them. The Dons hadn’t defeated Celtic in their last 26 meetings, a sequence stretching back over five years. They hadn’t beaten them here at Hampden since 1992, with 11 meetings coming and going in the intervening 32 years.
Their recent history under Jimmy Thelin though, and their 16-game unbeaten run, had the Red Army believing that this time, it could all be different. Instead, it was more of the same. And then some.
It was Celtic – and their wing kings Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn in particular - who slapped Thelin’s high-flying side back down to earth in unceremonious fashion , blazing their way into a three-goal lead by the interval through goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi and the brilliant Maeda. Aberdeen had come from two behind at the break when these sides met on league duty at Celtic Park recently, but that never looked likely here, and Maeda added a quick fourth before the equally impressive Kuhn curled in a fifth. Maeda then brought up his hat trick late on, tapping home Alistair Johnston’s cross at the back stick to rub salt into Aberdeen wounds.
Here are the talking points from Hampden...
NICKY DEVLIN THE LATEST VICTIM OF MERCILESS MAEDA The Aberdeen right back has had a sensational time of it of late, making his Scotland debut and scoring the opener against Rangers at Pittodrie during the week to cap off a hugely impressive s.
