CELTIC 3 ABERDEEN 0: Clinical Celtic cruise to victory after finally splashing the cash on flurry of new faces

The benefit of indulging in some retail therapy seemingly knows no bounds.

One week on from a funereal atmosphere descending on Celtic Park, the acquisition of some must-have accessories hasn’t half lifted the mood.

By the end of a day when the club’s board had belatedly splashed the cash like a sailor on shore leave, Martin O’Neill had chalked up his fourth league win at the outset of the new season and, suddenly, the prospect of an adventure in the Europa League didn’t seem so bad.

It was a strange old night. With the clock ticking down until the 11pm deadline for Europe, eyes gazed at phones for news of incoming signings and towards the main stand for a first glimpse of them.

When they were focused on the football, there was much to please the Celtic support, too.

On a foul evening in Glasgow’s east end, O’Neill could hardly have asked for more from his side. They had the three points in the bag by the time they were tasting the half-time oranges.

Camilo Duran, Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-jun each produced clinical finishes to leave the Dons playing damage limitation for the remainder of the evening.

Duran could have had many more. He looked menacing enough when playing on the right flank a few weeks back but he’s gone up a level since being asked to fill Kasper Hogh’s boots in the central position.

That’s six goals for the season already, the same number from open play as Kelechi Iheanacho managed last season.

There was a zip and an imagination to Celtic’s play to which Aberdeen had no answers.

For all last week’s nightmare in LASK won’t be forgotten too easily, this result extended the perfect start to the defence of the title.

Just as pleasing for O’Neill will have been the greater assurance his side exhibited without the ball. They didn’t give up as many chances as they had done in those early outings.

Aberdeen were simply embarrassing. From the moment Duran struck they looked a beaten side.

It said it all that Stephen Robinson made four changes at the interval. The Dons manager has been backed big style this summer. So far, one fortunate win against Hearts on the opening day is all the Red Army have had to cheer about.

Even though Callum McGregor returned to the starting side, the absences of Hogh and Kieran Tierney left O’Neill short of options.

The ink of their contracts barely dry, Sam Johnstone, Oliver Sorensen and Shim Mheuka were all seated on the bench. A knock prevented Landon Emenalo from joining them.

Oddly, the signing of Joel van den Berg from PSV Eindhoven wasn’t announced pre-match despite the midfielder coming off the team bus in his tracksuit.

Mats Knoester made his first appearance of the season for the Dons as Robinson shaped more cautiously than in the weekend loss to Rangers.

It wasn’t just the new faces who created a stir before the game. Football royalty was in the building in the shape of Sir Kenny Dalglish. The great man took the acclaim of the fans at the place he called home for ten years before kick-off.

Although they conceded a few early corners, Aberdeen actually looked well organised until Duran opened the scoring on 14 minutes with a moment of pure brilliance.

Nygren did the spade work, dropping a shoulder, carrying the ball forward and feeding the Colombian. You could hardly fault Lewis Mayo for standing his ground and waiting for Duran to try and run past him. The forward didn’t have to.

He simply rolled the ball onto his left foot and unleashed a strike that was akin to a heat-seeking missile. Marius Muller in the Dons goal could only watch it flash in off the underside of his crossbar.

Duran could have killed the contest himself before the break. He drilled Yang’s cut-back wide then fired over after Haissem Hassan’s strike was blocked by a defender.

A hat-trick of missed opportunities was completed when he fired weakly into Muller’s arms when he really ought to have given the keeper no chance.

For Aberdeen, it was already a case of trying to stay in the game for as long as possible. Neat footwork on the left allowed Nesta Guinness-Walker to centre. Ayoub Mouloua’s header wasn’t far away.

Viljami Sinisalo was always right behind Guinness-Walker’s ambitious half-volley from 25 yards.

An enterprising run by Yang across the box then invited Colby Donovan to shoot. The teenager’s meaty strike looked in all the way until it struck Nygren on the hip.

The Swede would soon make amends by chalking up his fifth goal of the season on 34 minutes.

It was atrocious from Aberdeen’s point of view. Hassan was given far too much space and time down the right to bob, weave and centre.

His cross should have been dispatched in the direction of Kerrydale Street by any number of Aberdeen players. Instead, Afeez Aremu stuck out an aimless leg. The ball sat up perfectly for Nygren who fired beyond Muller. The keeper, it must be said, could also have done better.

Any slim hope Aberdeen had of getting back into the game ended in a 30-second spell just before the break.

With Sinisalo flapping at a corner, Gavin Molloy headed against the bar. Celtic charged forward in numbers. Duran accelerated down the right and had the vision to see Yang bursting through the middle. The Korean clinically finished under the advancing Muller.

The pattern of the second half was predictable. Aberdeen showed a little more fight, primarily through the efforts of substitute Lewis Smith.

Celtic dropped back into third gear but cranked it up again when Sorensen and Mheuka came on for their debuts.

The striker was only denied a first goal in green and white by the outstretched arm of Muller. Sorensen should have swept home Seb Tounekti’s cross while Muller tipped away James Forrest’s strike. But it mattered little in the end.