‘Not at end of storm, but light amid darkness for Nancy at Celtic’

On the winter solstice, some light finally illuminated the darkness of Wilfried Nancy’s opening 17 days as Celtic manager.

At the fifth time of trying, the Frenchman oversaw his first victory after four wretched defeats across the Scottish Premiership, League Cup and Europa League.

It keeps them within six points of leaders Hearts, having played a game fewer, and was likely as deserved a win as he has ever achieved given just how dominant his side were against Aberdeen at Celtic Park.

For 20 second-half minutes, Celtic were scintillating. Like a throwback to the good old days under Brendan Rodgers, Ange Postecoglou or even Martin O’Neill.

With 31 shots on goal, 10 on target and an xG (expected goals) of 4.5, Celtic should have been out of sight. The only thing for supporters to worry about should have been some last-minute Christmas shopping.

But when Kenan Bilalovic thudded his shot under Kasper Schmeichel to draw 10-man Aberdeen inexplicably level with 16 minutes to remaining, concerns were firmly focused on Nancy again.

Since taking change from O’Neill less than three weeks ago, many fans will have wondered if he realised what he’d walked into.

And while Nancy would be forgiven for failing to make sense of Sunday’s ridiculous contest, he’ll not be given so much leeway if the rays of light on show against Aberdeen don’t turn into a full new dawn.

Fabulous. Sensational. Unstoppable. Just some of the superlatives the reliably reserved Sportsound pundit Willie Miller used to describe Celtic.

The Aberdeen legend barely had time to speak at the start of the second half as he scribbled down each and every chance Celtic created in a class-above performance.

Auston Trusty was denied by a tremendous Dimitar Mitov save, before Callum McGregor saw his strike magnificently clawed over by the goalkeeper.

Goalscorer Benjamin Nygren clipped the back post, as did Arne Engels in almost a carbon-copy attempt, while Anthony Ralston was denied on the volley.

At that point, only 10 minutes into the second half, Miller had a moment to share his disbelief that it was only 1-0 after Celtic’s “quite incredible pressure.”

And it didn’t stop there.

Mitov met Johnny Kenny’s cross before a Celtic shirt, as Luke McCowan tried his luck twice from distance only to be – yes, you guessed it – stopped by the Bulgarian.

Engels smashed the other post from a matter of yards out, before substitute James Forrest called on Mitov’s magic again.

Quite the recovery from a player whose slack pass led to youngster Dylan Lobban’s first-half sending off.

“There’s great escapes and there’s great escapes,” Miller said on BBC Scotland. “This would be the greatest of all if Aberdeen can get something out of this game.”

Then Bilalovic brought silence to the home stands with his goal and suddenly the mood inside the ground changed.

Celtic’s fluency disappeared. The tension of the past few matches returned.

Ultimately, their numerical advantage won out, Kieran Tierney and Forrest both scoring late on to ensure their side avoided what would have been an embarrassment, given their dominance.

“I noted eight big chances,” added an incredulous Miller. “You add to that the two goals Celtic scored [in the second half] and it is incredible.

“It was just wave after wave, chance after chance and yet Aberdeen still had a wee opportunity to take something from the game.

“If it had had been approaching double figures, I don’t think Aberdeen could’ve complained because Celtic were absolutely fabulous.

“You’ve got to give Wilfried Nancy great praise to stick with his system. They were sensational, absolutely unstoppable, and the only thing that was missing was the final finish.”

While that final touch remained elusive, the final straw moved closer.

There was no festive cheer at Celtic Park – certainly not pre-match – as boos echoed around the amphitheatre which is more toxic than a tonic for most these days.

Before the game, a large fan protest took place, engulfing much of The Celtic Way outside the stadium. Ironically, such supporters don’t think their club – and its hierarchy – are operating the way Celtic should.

While the anger is far from directed solely on Nancy, his dreadful start has not helped matters. Taking a team which won seven of eight under an interim manager who was a club legend and turning them into the butt of jokes will do that.

The hard-fought win over a 10-man side who played in Prague on Thursday – as deserved as it was – will not banish the concerns some have over his credentials. Nor will it paper over the start to his tenure.

Still, the manager stuck with his preferred 3-4-3 formation, with only one out-and-out central defender – Trusty – starting between two full-backs.

Had things gone wayward here, the clamour to cease such approach would have been deafening.

“That was unbelievable pressure he was under,” former Parkhead goalkeeper Pat Bonner said on Sportsound. “He does give himself a bit of time [with the result].

“It’ll be really interesting who he brings in this January. He’s just got to tighten up those defensive qualities and he might bring in a player to consolidate that.

“I’m sure they must have their homework done to bring in a couple of players that can actually enhance this way of playing and this team.

“If they don’t do that, then there’ll be more questions asked.”