Aberdeen come back to hold Celtic in summit clash

Aberdeen came from two goals down at Celtic Park to maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a thrilling draw.

The 2-2 draw kept the Dons level on points with the champions at the top of the Scottish Premiership and the manner of their second-half comeback will only fuel optimism among their supporters following Jimmy Thelin's remarkable start to life as manager.

Two goals inside three first-half minutes from Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi had the home fans declaring the title was staying at Parkhead but replies from Ester Sokler and Graeme Shinnie had Aberdeen level by the hour mark.

There were disallowed goals at both ends as the top-of-the-table clash more than lived up to the hype.

Both sides brought perfect domestic records into the game with seven wins each in the league and another meeting in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final to come in two weeks’ time.

But recent results at Celtic Park highlighted the scale of the challenge for Thelin’s side – Celtic had scored 15 goals without reply in the three previous meetings.

The Swede went with an unchanged team and set-up and his side showed attacking intent early on with three attack-minded midfielders supporting Kevin Nisbet.

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The first chances fell to Celtic’s Arne Engels, however. The midfielder hit the bar from out wide after Dons goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov had gifted him the ball, and the Belgian soon scuffed a shot wide after Alex Valle’s cutback found him unmarked on the edge of the box.

The opener came in the 24th minute after an Aberdeen move broke down deep in the Celtic half. Engels played Furuhashi down the right and, with Mitov retreating after initially going for the ball, the Japanese striker found compatriot Hatate, who swept home first