Reo Hatate's superb strike underlined Celtic's control at Pittodrie
Celtic made it two wins from two at the start of their Scottish Premiership title defence to help banish the "hurt" from last season's Scottish Cup final loss with a comfortable victory at Aberdeen.
Benjamin Nygren turned in a cross from Kieran Tierney to steady the visitors who had been under earlier pressure from the side who defeated them on penalties at Hampden in May.
But the Aberdeen challenge dissipated, with Reo Hatate curling in a magnificent strike midway through the second half to seal victory for Brendan Rodgers' team.
"This was always going to be a challenging game in the context of how the last season finished and coming here so early in Aberdeen's first [home] game," said Rodgers.
"I'm so pleased for the players. The last season would have hurt them. They had a fantastic season last season.
"But we come here today, we play with quality, we play with heart and we get the result."
Dons manager Jimmy Thelin, whose side lost to Hearts at Tynecastle in the opening week, resisted the temptation to stick with the back five that worked so well in last season's final win over Celtic, reverting to his trademark 4-2-3-1 formation.
Aberdeen started well, Adil Aouchiche stinging Kasper Schmeichel's fingers tips with a fizzing long range shot.
But the visitors broke the deadlock as the half-hour mark approached, courtesy of a fine low finish from Swedish winger Nygren after great work down the left by Tierney.
Celtic could have been further ahead at the break with Hatate forcing a smart save from Dimitar Mitov, before Liam Scales headed just wide.
Mitov was called into action early in the second half, producing a wonderful reflex stop to tip Daezen Maeda's volleyed effort over.
Celtic did double their advantage in the 66th minute, when Hatate smashed an 18-yard strike into the net off the underside of the bar.
Aberdeen huffed and puffed after that, unable to find any sort of route back into the game.
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What was the main talking point?
Celtic weren't at their best at Pittodrie, but they got the job done, and that will be the most pleasing thing for Rodgers.
Winning when you are not firing on all cylinders is the mark of champions, and that trait will be a worry to anyone else in the division who are perhaps holding out hopes of challenging them for the title this term. You have to assume this team will get better over the coming weeks and months.
Once again Celtic lacked a bit of cutting edge, but Rodgers will be hoping that is something which will addressed in the remaining weeks of the transfer window.
Aberdeen were better than they were in their season-opening defeat at Hearts, but, and to use that phrase again, a lack of cutting edge in the final third is an early season source of concern.
Which players stood out?
Nygren was a thorn in Aberdeen's side all afternoon.
He will get the headlines for his goal, but his all-round game was excellent – good on the ball and composed on the build-up.
On the basis of his display in the Granite City , he looks like he will have a big part to play in the Hoops' title defence.
Tierney also deserves a mention as being another player who caught the eye with a typically assured and unflustered showing display before he was taken off on 67 minutes.
Two of Aberdeen's new signings, Nicolas Milanovic and Adil Aouchiche showed enough to suggest they will be influential over the coming months, particularly in the first half.
But it was another disappointing display from another Pittodrie new boy, striker Kusini Yengi, who looks devoid of confidence as he struggled again to make his mark in the frontline before being replaced early in the second half.
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What they said
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin told BBC Scotland: "I think some parts of the game were good in the first half. Still, on the break, in our transitions, we're not clinical enough. We have to do more work during training sessions to be better when we have the opportunity to win the ball and transition, and how we arrive to the last third.
"[Celtic] defended transitions really well, and I think in the last 20 minutes of the game, we don't have this extra power to create an opportunity to get back to the game. I think the game was still alive when it was 1-0. When the score was 2-0, we needed to risk a little bit more.
"We created some opportunities against Hearts. Today, not so many.
"I still think it's early, but of course we expected more from ourselves, and I am the manager, so I'm responsible."
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers told BBC Scotland: "I'm really pleased for Benji [Nygren].
"That's why we signed him. He's a player with a record of scoring goals from midfields or wide areas. But we see him very much as an eight. He can move well, he can take the ball in tight spaces and he can get in the box. It's really nice for him to get that goal.
"And the second goal, we played out the pressure really well. And then we've done what we've done up here a few times."
What is next?
Aberdeen now face a potentially slippery Premier Sports Cup trip to play Championship side Greenock Morton next Saturday (15:00 BST).
Celtic get the last 16 weekend under way at home to Premiership new boys Falkirk on Friday night (19:45).
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