Celtic 3-1 Aberdeen: Deila delighted to extend league lead

Griffiths scored twice for Celtic in a 3-1 win

Manager Ronny Deila was thrilled to see Celtic stretch their Premiership lead with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen.

"We have the greatest fans in the world, in my opinion, and you have to give them something," he told BBC Scotland.

"That's what we are training for every day.

"The players showed character, they showed skills and they gave the fans three nice goals. It could have been more."

A first half packed full of chances for both sides ended with Leigh Griffiths planting a firm header into the bottom corner of the net.

The Celtic striker then knocked in his 16th goal of the season from the penalty spot before James Forrest added a neat finish, with Adam Rooney replying for the Dons late on.

On Griffiths, Deila added: "The first goal was high class - a good cross and an unbelievable header between the two big central defenders.

"He's a top striker. He scores goals all the time and he's focused to keep going."

Forrest (left) scored during a period of complete dominance from Celtic

Having avenged Celtic's only domestic defeat of the season, Deila now turns his attention to Molde, who visit Glasgow on Thursday having beaten the Scottish champions in Norway to remain top of Europa League Group A.

"You get punished if you make silly mistakes," warned Deila. "That's the difference between good European teams and the teams we meet in Scotland.

"Molde are very compact and organised. They are not here to entertain but they can hit us hard on breaks if we are not concentrated and 100% aware all of the time.

"They have beaten Fenerbahce away and drawn with Ajax, so we can't talk about names. So far, they have been the best team in the group."

Aberdeen are now seven points behind Celtic, having collected just one point from their last five outings in the league.

Dons manager Derek McInnes was frustrated by the result but heartened by aspects of his team's display, having created several good openings.

"You've got to try and get a complete 90 minute performance when you play Celtic," he explained.

"At times, we had control of the game. Even when we didn't have the ball, we were showing them where we wanted to show them.

"We had some brilliant first-half attacks. We looked really threatening, probably more so than Celtic at that stage.

"I thought going in 1-0 down at half-time was harsh on us."

Aberdeen have picked up just one point from their last five league games

Celtic's lead was doubled when Ash Taylor was punished for chopping down Kris Commons as he moved away from goal.

"The tackle is reckless, whether it's an inch in the box or an inch outside," was the verdict from McInnes.

"You then start to see the Celtic players enjoying the second half. We didn't see that in the first half when we denied them space. Once they got their tails up, they are a difficult team to keep out.

"How we've only scored one goal is remarkable. We had better chances than the one we got.

"But our fight has never been with Celtic. All we want to do is improve and I'm confident we can do that.

"At the minute, we just need to manage our own situation. The supporters clapped the team off. They see what I see. They recognise an effort.

"It was far better today. We know we're not perfect but we are better than most and we'll show that over the course of the campaign. We'll be absolutely fine."