Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic: Paul Quinn winner sends Dons top

Paul Quinn scored the winning goal four minutes from time as Aberdeen's 10 men beat Celtic 2-1 to go top of the Scottish Premiership.

Leigh Griffiths had given Celtic the lead in the first half when he scored with a penalty before Adam Rooney did likewise to level the game.

The home side were reduced to 10 men when Jonny Hayes clattered Mikael Lustig with a clumsy challenge in the 72nd minute but that did not prevent them from snatching the three points.

Following a cautious start to the match it was Celtic who came close to opening the scoring when a 25-yard free-kick from Griffiths deflected off Graeme Shinnie and smacked the Aberdeen crossbar.

Two minutes later the Dons squandered an opportunity as Andrew Considine arrived on the six-yard line to meet a Niall McGinn corner, only to send his header over the bar.

Lustig then came to the rescue for the visitors when he swept the ball clear after Considine had taken down an angled delivery from Kenny McLean at the back post.

Celtic made the breakthrough 10 minutes before the break when Griffiths latched on to a 30-yard pass from Charlie Murgrew and was pulled back by Considine to concede a penalty, although the Aberdeen defender only received a yellow card after referee Craig Thomson deemed it not to be an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

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Griffiths stepped up to take the spot-kick and he crashed the ball into the bottom corner of the net past the diving Danny Ward.

The Dons squandered a chance to level as Hayes stepped inside Lustig and curled the ball across the penalty area, but with the goal at his mercy McLean failed to connect with his free header.

But Aberdeen equalised on 56 minutes when Rooney smashed a penalty into the same corner as Griffiths after Dedryck Boyata was adjudged to have bundled over McLean.

Striker McLean again failed to get any connection on an angled delivery, this time 12 yards out after he nipped in front of Boyata in an attempt to meet a Shay Logan cross.

Aberdeen were reduced to 10 men on 72 minutes when Hayes was late with a challenge on Lustig, who also limped out of the action.

Celtic substitute James Forrest drilled an angled shot a foot wide of the far post shortly after that after skipping past Considine inside the penalty area.

But it was Aberdeen who got the vital goal four minutes from time when McGinn delivered a free-kick into the six-yard box and Quinn got in front of the static Tyler Blackett to clip the ball past Craig Gordon.

Brown shaved the base of the post with a powerful strike from 25 yards as Celtic tried to hit back quickly.

Considine then denied Celtic a share of the points when he got back to clear the ball off the line in stoppage-time after Griffiths took advantage of a slip by Quinn and rounded the advancing Ward.