Paul George torments Aberdeen

Paul George hit the right notes this afternoon with a dazzling display as Celtic’s youth side beat Aberdeen 4-2.

There was no shortage of eye catching performances from the young hoops but it was the kid from Ireland who stole the show with a hand in all four goals.

Since his return from international duty last month George has been virtually unplayable as the defenders of Manchester City, Kilmarnock and now Aberdeen will confirm.

The only flaw in his game is a reluctance to pass the ball to a better placed team-mate but with his speed, skill and close control there’s always the chance of something special happening as he demonstrated with a Paddy McCourt style solo effort in the 29^th minute when he cut in from the left flank before drilling a low shot beyond the Dons keeper.

Aberdeen had taken the lead in the fifth minute when their centre forward rose unmarked in the penalty box to head past Robbie Thomson but that set-back didn’t knock Celtic off their stride.

As ever there were a number of changes in the Celtic side with Marcus Fraser, John Herron and Filip Twardzik replaced by Stuart Findlay, Darnell Fisher and Omar Bogle. There was also a change in formation from the 4-5-1 preferred in recent games to a more conventional 4-4-2 that saw Bogle join Tony Watt in attack with Fisher slotting into centre midfield alongside Callum McGregor and Findlay step in to defence to replace Fraser.

Celtic had threatened an equaliser on a couple of occasions before Bogle bundled home his first Celtic goal in the 11^th minute from George’s in-swinging corner.

George saw a shot smack off the crossbar with McGregor and Watt trying their luck with long range efforts but Celtic were given a scare in the 24^th minute when Aberdeen netted from a move similar to their 5^th minute goal but an offside flag came to Celtic’s rescue.

The traffic continued towards the visiting ‘keeper with George’s goal coming as no surprise, nine minutes from the interval George’s pace took him clear of the Aberdeen defence with Watt perfectly placed to net from his team-mate’s cut back.

Celtic looked capable of scoring at will with almost all of the outfield players looking to get forward with the exception of Findlay who barely strayed from his defensive beat.

Kennedy’s side managed to create and miss a host of chances before Bogle headed home a 58^th minute corner from George.

Watt should have added to the scoreline with a couple of chances but at 4-1 Celtic seemed to drop a gear allowing Aberdeen to pull a goal back in the 75^th minute although there was never any realistic hope of a fightback although the visitors did contribute greatly, as did the match officials, to an entertaining afternoon in the November sunshine of Barrowfield.

CELTIC; Thomson, Miller, Findlay, Irvine, Chalmers (O’Brien 46): P Twardzik, Fisher, McGregor (Atajic 64/Lindsay 72), George; Watt, Bogle
SUBS; Daniels, Yaqub, Johnstone

GOALS Bogle 2, George, Watt

THIS SEASON’S SCORERS: Watt 8, F Twardzik 4, Herron 4, George 4, P Twardzik 3, Williamson 2, Bogle 2, Atajic 1, Gormley 1, McGeough 1, McGregor1, OG 1