Celtic took advantage of Rangers' free Saturday - their arch-rivals play Airdrie in the League Cup on Sunday - to close the gap at the top of the Scottish League.

Simon Donnelly...grabbed a brace

Simon Donnelly struck once in each half but it was a less than comfortable victory for the Bhoys.

More than 60,000 fans - Britain's biggest attendance of the day - turned up on a miserably wet and windy day.

But both teams were woefully short of confidence and it showed in a dreadful match.

At least Celtic's fans can cherish three points. The Dons equalled a post-war club record of 10 matches without a win - a run which must put Alex Miller's job in jeopardy.

Injury crisis

Celtic were without injured centre halves Marc Rieper and Alan Stubbs but defender Enrico Annoni shook off a flu complaint to play.

Henrik Larsson had a penalty claim rejected after seven minutes when he fell as he rounded Dons keeper Jim Leighton.

Six minutes later Donnelly exchanged passes with Larsson before firing past Leighton.

Aberdeen almost equalised soon after when Annoni missed a cross ball but Robbie Winters' had a shot blocked by Jonathan Gould.

Larsson, Craig Burley and Harald Brattbakk missed a couple of chances but Aberdeen remained dangerous on the break.

After the break Celtic's defensive crisis worsened when Annoni collided with his own captain Tom Boyd and limped off to be substituted by Hannah.

Second goal

Celtic collected their second after 71 minutes when Leighton could only parry a Riseth strike as far as Donnelly.

He was first to the rebound with a diving header.

Aberdeen were never going to come back from 2-0 down and Celtic fans were walking out long before the end.

Afterwards Dons manager Alex Miller refused to criticise his men.

He said: "We started the game brightly, lost a goal, but then might have equalised straight away when Jonathan Gould made a fine save from Robbie Winters.

"I feel we are playing well enough though. We kept our shape, but that first goal proved an important one, even if overall, we probably lacked a cutting edge."

Celtic

Gould; Boyd, McNamara, Larsson, Burley, Brattbakk, Donnelly, Lambert, Annoni (Hannah 52), McKinlay, Riseth (O'Donnell 84). Subs Not Used: Jackson, McCondichie, Burchill.

Aberdeen: Leighton, Perry, Whyte, Smith, Hignett, Jess, Anderson, Buchan (Kiriakov 86), Rowson, Young (Hart 71), Winters (Gillies 77). Subs Not Used: Inglis, Esson.

Referee: Jim McCluskey (Stewarton)