Samaras strike sends 'Bhoys back to the summit

Celtic 1 Aberdeen 0

Georgios Samaras fired Celtic to the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League as Gordon Strachan’s side jumped above Rangers for the first time since January.

The Greek striker had a mostly dreadful game but his goal made the difference at Parkhead as both teams served up a poor match which failed to hit the heights of Wednesday’s exhilarating Old Firm clash.

Regardless of the spectacle, the win allowed Celtic to move two points clear at the summit, however Rangers – in Scottish Cup semi-final action tomorrow – now have three games in hand.

Gary Caldwell’s involvement in the fracas at the end of the Old Firm clash earned him a one-match ban and allowed Bobo Balde to make his first Celtic appearance since December.

Boss Gordon Strachan also made a further three enforced changes from the triumph over Rangers after Lee Naylor, Paul Hartley and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink all picked up knocks, paving the way for the introduction of Mark Wilson, Massimo Donati and Samaras.

Aberdeen were still licking their wounds after being denied a place in the Scottish Cup final by First Division Queen of the South last week and they arrived in the east end of Glasgow with a point to prove.

Scott Severin almost provided a dream start when he tried his luck from 25 yards with a shot which struck the inside of Artur Boruc’s right-hand post and trickled along the goal-line before hitting the other upright.

To his great relief, Boruc was then able to smother the ball.

Assistant referee Billy Baxter signalled that the ball did not cross the line, as Celtic breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Samaras had the ball in the back of the net for Celtic two minutes later but the offside flag was correctly raised before the shot had left the striker’s boot.

Aberdeen were under pressure again when Andrew Considine’s header to Jamie Langfield was intercepted by Scott McDonald and the goalkeeper, recalled to the Dons first team ahead of the outgoing Derek Soutar, did well to hook to safety before the Celtic frontman could pull the trigger.

Aiden McGeady then delivered a teasing cross to Balde at the back post but the big defender was denied a goalscoring comeback when he somehow managed to scoop over from four yards.

McGeady, who could land the SPFA Player of the Year award at a dinner in Glasgow tomorrow night, was causing plenty of problems on the left and he had a go at goal himself with a smart shot which was held comfortably by Langfield.

Celtic were dominating most of the possession but Zander Diamond passed up a decent opportunity for Aberdeen when he glanced a header just wide of the target after finding plenty of space.

Samaras should have broken the deadlock with half-time looming when he pounced on a decent ball from Shunsuke Nakamura and tried to bury an angled drive but the effort was blasted out of play by Barry Nicholson.

The Celtic striker then nodded well wide of the target from Barry Robson’s corner kick as the first half ended goalless.

Andreas Hinkel was replaced by Paul Caddis at the break and the young full-back immediately burst down the flank before setting up Samaras, who mis-hit the shot and squandered another decent opportunity.

McDonald then found himself through on Langfield after being released by Nakamura but the Dons ’keeper raced from his line and did well to close the Australian down at the near post and deny him a real shot at goal.

But Langfield was picking the ball out of the back of the net in the 56th minute.

Samaras had been far from impressive but eventually made a worthwhile contribution by winning a free-kick in front of the corner flag, before throwing himself in front of Robson’s free-kick and nodding home from eight yards.

Only a timely intervention from birthday boy Caddis prevented Aberdeen from restoring parity with 13 minutes to go.

Nicholson rolled the ball into the path of Lee Miller and all that was required was a stabbed finish from a few yards out with Boruc beaten, but Caddis somehow managed to stick out a boot and the Dons were forced to settle for a corner instead.

At the other end, McDonald could have killed off any hope of a Dons comeback when he raced through on goal with only Langfield to beat but his point-blank shot was tipped over, before McGeady sent a diving header in the same direction.

Samaras and Diamond both had the ball in the net in the latter stages but the game had been stopped for fouls beforehand on both occasions as the match ended with a slender win for the defending SPL champions.