I watched Celtic hand Rangers title initiative up close as 4 significant factors trigger Pittodrie misfire

After a subdued start, yesterday's clash between Aberdeen and Celtic in the lunchtime kick-off in the Premiership really caught fire.

Given what was at stake for both teams, (for very different reasons) it wasn't too much of a surprise to see a cagey affair in the early stages of the game. The Dons had gone into the match off the back of a damaging week in which they had parted company with manager Barry Robson while Brendan Rodgers Celtic had to put a frustrating end to the January transfer window behind them to focus on matters on the field.

Celtic dominated the first half, with winger Luis Palma at the forefront of the action. The Honduras international correctly had a goal chalked off by VAR for an offside call before fluffing his lines with a huge chance from six yards out. It seemed like only a matter of time before the champions made the breakthrough after the restart, but to Aberdeen's credit, interim boss Peter Leven's men came out the traps quickly to put on an inspired display and opened the scoring with 50 minutes on the clock through Bojan Miovski's 19th goal of the season.

That goal gave the home side the impetus to press home their advantage, however Celtic finally got themselves going again around the hour mark and levelled thanks to new signing Nicolas Kuhn's first goal for the club. Graeme Shinnie and Matt O'Riley then exchanged huge opportunities to find a winner for their respective teams, and as the final whistle blew both sides came away from Pitttodrie feeling that they could have grabbed all three points.

Here are four things that stood out in yesterday's clash in the Granite City.

Despite not breaking the deadlock, the champions were in cruise control in the first half. But to almost