Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths celebrates scoring a goal. Right: Celtic manager Ronny Deila.

AFP/Glasgow

Celtic manager Ronny Deila heaped praise on striker Leigh Griffiths after his double helped the Hoops to a 3-1 win over nearest rivals Aberdeen on Saturday.
The Hoops hitman opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a bullet header before grabbing his second from the penalty spot eight minutes into the second half after Kris Commons had been scythed down by Ash Taylor.
James Forrest completed the scoring for the Glasgow giants on the hour mark before Adam Rooney headed in a late consolation for the Dons.
Griffiths now has 16 for the season and his manger is delighted with his contribution.
“I think he is getting more and more mature,” Deila said of Griffiths, whose best haul was the 28 he scored with Hibernian back in 2012.
“He can still lack a bit of concentration but he smells danger all the time. He sees when things are happening and he’s a great finisher.
“The first goal was a high class finish and the cross from Kieran Tierney was very nice as well.”
Celtic have come in for criticism this year following disappointing performances at home and in Europe which saw the Scottish champions crash out of the Champions League and at one stage trail Aberdeen by five points in the league.
However, the win over Aberdeen means the Hoops have now opened up a seven point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership in a performance that Deila hopes will silence some of the critics.
“I think we won in a brilliant way today and I am so pleased with the players. We performed for 90 minutes and should have scored more,” the Norwegian manager, whose side’s win over Hearts in the League Cup in midweek means they remain in the hunt for a treble, said.
“Aberdeen had rested and prepared themselves for a week and it was a good chance for them to get something. But we just showed we were the better team and now we are seven points clear and that’s very good when we are just getting into November.”
Despite their formidable advantage at the top of the table, Deila refused to get too carried away about his side’s chances of clinching their fifth title in a row.
“I don’t think about it,” the Celtic manager said. “We are not even half-way through the season and so much can happen.
“We have a very good group of players who love playing together as you could see today and they are hungry for more success. So that’s a good start for winning games and winning trophies.”
Defeat is a massive dent in Aberdeen’s title challenge after the Dons had started the season with a club record-breaking eight wins in a row.
However, manager Derek McInnes, whose side have picked up just one point from their last five matches, angrily dismissed claims that no one could catch Celtic now.
“I think it is disrespectful to all the teams in the league to say that the league could be won in October,” the Aberdeen boss said.
“There was a similar gap at this time last year and people were saying the same thing and we went on a run.
“But our fight is not with Celtic; it is with ourselves to win games. We want to improve and I am confident we can improve on our record-breaking points total last season.”