Martin O’Neill’s unblemished domestic record disappeared at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon as ten man Celtic side could only muster a disappointing 1-1 draw with Aberdeen.

Robbie Winters gave the Dons the lead on the brink of the interval when he coolly lobbed Jonathan Gould and tucked the ball into the corner of the net.

However, incessant second-half pressure by Celtic bore fruit when Henrik Larsson headed the Hoops onto level terms.

Minutes later winger Bobby Petta was dismissed for his second yellow card of the game.  He collected a harsh first booking minutes prior to his dismissal for dissent after a tussle for the ball with Eoin Jess, and was then sent packing for a foul on Phil McGuire.

Celtic lacked the sparkle that characterised their earlier league performances, and in the opening period in particular they looked bereft of creativity and fluency

As a result, Aberdeen hussled and harried their visitors to every ball and put O’Neill’s side under a fair degree of pressure in the early stages.

Indeed, Celtic were fortunate not to concede a penalty after just 12 minutes when a penetrating run from Winters was halted following a challenge from Boyd.

The Scotland international looked to have slightly caught Winters from the back, but referee Mike McCurry waved play on.

Seven minutes later Alan Thompson set out on a bamboozling run that culminated with a fierce drive, however Scotland Under-21 keeper Ryan Esson collected the ball at the second attempt.

Ten minutes before the interval Thompson was forced to go off following a hamstring problem, and Stephane Mahe was then introduced to the action.

The Frenchman, however, was also forced to hobble off midway through the second period after two clashes with Darren Mackie in quick succession.

Aberdeen created a few opportunities, mainly through Winters whose paced caused much discomfort for Celtic at the back.

A minute before the break he outpaced Boyd and Valgaeren to latch on to a lengthy Esson kick-out, before chipping the advancing Gould, and giving the Dons a valuable lead.

Celtic looked far sharper in the second period, but although they launched wave after wave of attack, genuine chances were few and far between.

Four minutes after the break Jackie McNamara broke free of the right-wing, but his final pass across the face of the goal was too early for anyone to latch on to.

In the 64th minute Mahe sent a tantalising ball across the face of the goal, and this time Chris Sutton was just millimetres away from connection, however he ball slipped out of play.

Three minutes later Stilian Petrov looped a ball over the Aberdeen defence into the path of Larsson, but the Swede uncharacteristically snatched at the shot and missed the target.

With ten minute remaining however, the striker was not so slack in front of goal and made no mistake with a bulleted header which he converted from a Moravcik cross.

Celtic searched valiantly for the winner but could not direct their territorial superiority into goals, and O’Neill must surely be alarmed at the lack of creativity stemming from he middle of the park at the minute.