Celtic beat Aberdeen for the third time in 10 days and in doing so moved eight points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Andrew Considine was sent off within two minutes for fouling Celtic’s Scott Brown but Jamie Langfield saved Anthony Stokes’ resultant penalty.
Gary Hooper and Stokes combined for two of Celtic’s three goals, the former finishing a one-two for the opener.
Mark Wilson headed a 75th-minute second and Hooper fed Stokes for the third.
The match could scarcely have begun more dramatically. Dons boss Craig Brown had just finished shaking hands with his Celtic counterpart Neil Lennon when Hooper picked out Brown making a run into the box.
Hooper’s delicious cross-field pass was controlled and nudged towards goal by the Celtic captain in a flowing move, but as Brown shaped to score he was hauled down by Andrew Considine and referee Alan Muir pointed to the spot.
While Stokes grabbed the ball for the penalty, Muir presented the shell-shocked Dons defender with a red card and his involvement was over after 95 seconds.
Considine’s foul was apparent but Aberdeen could argue that a yellow card was sufficient as Zander Diamond was racing across to cover.
Jamie Langfield did not have the best of games against Celtic at Hampden in the 4-1 Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final defeat, but he denied Stokes a penalty goal with a dive to his left – an inspirational save.
But Celtic could smell blood and they tore the Reds apart in the 12th minute.
Quick-thinking Hooper worked a one-two with strike partner Stokes, raced past a static Aberdeen defence and slid the ball beyond Langfield for his 11th Scottish Premier League goal.
Worse was to follow for the home side. Ryan Jack had started the match in midfield in favour of Derek Young but had moved into defence with Considine’s sending-off.
Soon he was hobbling off injured at the same time as David McNamee, who had switched from right- to left-back, was wincing in pain with a groin injury.
Aberdeen’s Andrew Considine is sent off by Alan Muir
Considine’s red card in the second minute set the tone for the Dons’ evening
Brown threw on Derek Young and new loan signing Steven Smith for the duo as Aberdeen’s decimated defence contemplated a long evening.
Celtic’s Kris Commons had looked lively, firing over the bar after 10 minutes, and tested Langfield twice more with his left foot in the first half.
He smacked a first-time shot at the Dons goal that was well saved in 22 minutes, and 10 minutes later the Aberdeen keeper was down smartly to his right to turn the former Derby player’s shot round the post.
The pressure on the Dons goal was constant. Brown blasted a shot at goal that Zander Diamond blocked with a combination of head then arm, then Beram Kayal stole into space 25 yards out and curled a powerful shot around Langfield that cracked off the inside of the post.
Aberdeen’s Rob Milsom cleared off his goal-line with Stokes ready to pounce before Aberdeen made a late first-half rally.
Nick Blackman had three Celtic players puzzled when he left them in his wake with a 180-degree turn and shot just wide in 38 minutes, then Chris Maguire belted a first-time angled volley that stung Fraser Forster’s palms.
Reaching half-time a goal down was an achievement for Aberdeen. They would have been level in 42 minutes had Forster not been alert to a sweet volley by Scott Vernon from eight yards as he connected with a corner.
While Celtic have been consistent in racking up the SPL points, their defence has been shorn of any sort of pattern. Efrain Juarez, Mark Wilson, Charlie Mulgrew and Emilio Izaguirre were in at the back, with Glenn Loovens, Thomas Rogne and Daniel Majstorovic injured and Darren O’Dea and Jos Hooiveld out on loan.
Aberdeen worked hard to limit the chances in the first 20 minutes of the second half; enough, indeed, for Lennon to withdraw Kayal for Paddy McCourt to try to increase Celtic’s attacking intent.
In 66 minutes the pacy Commons evaded a desperate challenge by Smith, rounded Langfield then struck the post when he ought to have rolled the ball into the net.
Wilson’s last goal was five years ago but it was the defender who eased Celtic’s nerves that they may be stung by Aberdeen when he rose to meet Commons’ in-swinging corner. His powerful header from six yards gave Langfield no chance at all.
The Dons were three goals down after as many minutes had passed since Wilson’s header.
Hooper was running away from goal in the Aberdeen box but managed to find his strike partner Stokes, who cut on to his left foot and shot between Langfield and his near post.
Celtic are unbeaten in 12 league games and are applying pressure to their title rivals.
