Aberdeen 1-2 Celtic: Brown off as Hoops go top IT HAS taken them far longer than anyone could have anticipated but Celtic have finally assumed their accustomed position at the Scottish Premiership summit. Scorers: Aberdeen - Rooney (27); Celtic - Johansen (38), Van Dijk (90) In keeping with much of their campaign so far under Ronny Deila, they did it the hard way at Pittodrie. Trailing to Adam Rooney's 13th goal of the season, Celtic equalised through Stefan Johansen but then found themselves on the back foot in the second half as captain Scott Brown was sent off. But if much of their performance was unconvincing, Deila's side lacked nothing in terms of spirit and resilience as they grabbed a dramatic 90th minute winner through Virgil van Dijk to oust Inverness from the top of the table on goal difference. In a fixture which is seldom short of talking points, there were almost too many to keep track of here. Sadly, a section of the Celtic support's failure to observe the Remembrance Sunday minute's silence before kick-off was the first of them. An added edge to proceedings had already been guaranteed in a build-up dominated by the club's differing views of Celtic winger Aleksandar Tonev's appeal against his seven-match SFA suspension for racially abusing Aberdeen full-back Shay Logan during the team's previous meeting in September. Tonev was a notable absentee from the Celtic squad, while Logan lined up as normal for the Dons. But his day would have an ironic twist when he was sent off in the tunnel after the final whistle as he continued to protest the contentious award of the corner kick from which Celtic plundered all three points. It was a difficult afternoon all round for referee Alan Muir and his assistants. Their first big call came when Peter Pawlett tumbled inside the penalty area under a challenge from behind by Brown in the third minute. It looked as if the Celtic skipper had nudged Pawlett in the back but Muir was unmoved and waved play on in what was perhaps a case of the Aberdeen player's reputation for simulation going before him. The home side were keen to set a ferocious early tempo to proceedings with the terrier-like Willo Flood a key figure in that approach. So it was a blow for Derek McInnes when he lost the Irish midfielder after just ten minutes. Flood pulled up with what looked like a hamstring problem following a challenge by John Guidetti and limped off to be replaced by Barry Robson. Celtic took time to hit their stride but came close to making the breakthrough with their first piece of cohesive passing football in the 20th minute. James Forrest, back in the side for the first time since August, sparked a terrific move which also involved Guidetti and Johansen as the ball was shuttled across the face of the Aberdeen penalty area to Anthony Stokes on the left. The forward made a studied contact with the ball but looked on in frustration as his low shot slid just wide of Aberdeen goalkeeper Scott Brown's left hand post. It looked as if it may be the cue for Celtic to seize the initiative but instead they were stunned when Aberdeen took the lead seven minutes later. The goal was a calamity for Lukasz Zaluska, drafted in for the injured Craig Gordon. The Polish goalkeeper was unconvincing to say the least when a long throw-in from Andrew Considine caused panic in the heart of the Celtic defence. Zaluska could only spill a shot from Considine into the path of Rooney who was able to scuff home a shot from close range which Emilio Izaguirre was unable to keep out as the ball drifted inside the keeper's left-hand post. The visitors" frustration at conceding such a poor goal manifested itself in renewed vigour at the other end of the pitch where Brown had to look alert to keep out a Van Dijk header from Johansen's corner. There was suddenly a greater flow to the work of both sides and Ryan Jack threatened to double Aberdeen's lead when he was allowed time and space to shoot from 25 yards, his dipping effort flying wide of Zaluska's left-hand post. But on the balance of play, Celtic were certainly worth the equaliser they claimed seven minutes before the interval. A slack pass by Considine put Aberdeen in trouble and their claims for a foul by Charlie Mulgrew on Niall McGinn were ignored as Celtic broke swiftly. Izaguirre found Stokes on the left and the Irishman's clever pass picked out Johansen's run into the penalty area. Mark Reynolds hesitated fatally as he attempted to shepherd the ball back to his goalkeeper, allowing Johansen to nip in and flick a shot beyond the advancing Brown. The Norwegian midfielder is currently enjoying a rich vein of form and he almost put Celtic in front three minutes later, his powerful 25-yard shot prompting an excellent save from Brown low to his left. The quality of play declined after the interval, however, becoming scrappy and increasingly fractious. Referee Muir had seemed keen to keep his cards in his pocket but there was now a procession of bookings for Stokes, Izaguirre, Hayes, Brown and Robson. While Celtic enjoyed the edge in terms of possession, Aberdeen often looked the more menacing side. McGinn was becoming an influential figure against his former club, first sending a long range shot dipping narrowly over the top and then cutting in from the left to smack another fine effort against Zaluska's right-hand post. The clearer chances continued to come Aberdeen's way and McGinn should have done better than steer a header wide from ten yards after Ash Taylor had nodded the ball into his path. There was further profligacy from close range when Jack's header from a McGinn cross was too close to Zaluska who made a scrambling save. It was the kind of wastefulness which you sensed would be punished by Celtic, although Brown's dismissal eight minutes from time when he picked up his second yellow card for a trip on McGinn did appear to diminish the visitors" prospects of securing the kind of dramatic late victory which is something of a trademark. But snatch the win they duly did, just as the match ticked into the final minute of regulation time. Aberdeen disputed the award of the corner kick which led to the winner and appeared to have a case in claiming Celtic substitute Mikael Lustig had got the final touch on the ball. That said, there was no excuse for their lamentable defending in allowing Johansen's corner to find its way to Van Dijk who tapped in from little more than a yard out. Aberdeen: Brown, Logan, Taylor, Reynolds, Considine, Jack, Flood (Robson 10), Pawlett (Monakana 85), McGinn, Hayes (Goodwillie 67), Rooney. Booked: Hayes, Robson. Goals: Rooney 27. Celtic: Zaluska, Matthews (Lustig 78), Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguirre, Brown, Johansen, Forrest (McGregor 61), Stokes (Griffiths 72), Mulgrew, Guidetti. Subs not used: Fasan, Scepovic, Mubarak, Kayal. Booked: Izaguirre, Brown, Stokes. Sent off: Brown. Goals: Johansen 38; van Dijk 90. Referee: A Muir Attendance: 19,051