The interim Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, endured an afternoon of frustration on his return to Parkhead as his side were held to a 0-0 draw by Aberdeen. The former Celtic captain and manager was back after the departure of Brendan Rodgers to Leicester but after wins at Hearts and Hibernian his homecoming in the Scottish Premiership was spoiled by an organised and dogged Aberdeen side.

It was a strangely insipid performance from Celtic, who dropped points at home for the first time this season.

Fan confronts James Tavernier as Rangers draw at Hibernian Read more

But Celtic did restore their eight-point lead over Rangers at the top of the table as they bid for an eighth successive title and the unprecedented domestic treble treble. Aberdeen, for their part, will take massive confidence from their performance as they turn their attention to their Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday.

Lennon, given a huge ovation by the fans before the game, brought back defender Jeremy Toljan for Mikael Lustig and Ewan Henderson for Odsonne Édouard while Aberdeen striker James Wilson came in for the injured former Celt Gary Mackay-Steven.

Aberdeen would probably have expected more pressure than they had to survive early on but they remained organised and disciplined, albeit rooted in their own half. On the half-hour mark Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer strode forward to drill in a shot from the edge of the box which was tipped past the post by goalkeeper Joe Lewis for another corner, which again was dealt with by Aberdeen. A minute before half-time Ajer had the ball in the net from a Henderson free-kick with a powerful header but the offside flag was up.

Lennon made interval changes, bringing on the French striker Édouard and the winger Mikey Johnston for Henderson and Scott Sinclair while the visitors replaced Wilson with Dean Campbell. Oliver Burke was moved wide for Édouard to operate through the middle but it was Aberdeen who began to threaten.

In the 51st minute, just after Connor McLennan passed up a chance to shoot inside the Celtic penalty area, Dominic Ball weaved his way into the Celtic box but his angled drive was blocked by the feet of Parkhead keeper Scott Bain.

In the 58th minute a swift Celtic move involving Toljan and Burke ended with Lewis saving from Édouard’s drive from a tight angle. The home side stepped up the tempo and Aberdeen’s defending became more desperate. Timothy Weah replaced Burke in the 78th minute and the league leaders pushed for a late winner. Two efforts from Johnston escaped the far post while at the other end Aberdeen substitute Stevie May, on for Greg Stewart, headed a Sam Cosgrove knock-down over the bar in the final minute, before Celtic ran out of time.

“It’s frustrating in terms of our play in the final third. We looked leggy, a little bit fatigued, and I understand that,” Lennon told BBC Scotland.

“Psychologically, they’re a little bit fatigued too after everything that’s happened.

“Give credit to Aberdeen, they defended very well, but we didn’t test Joe Lewis anywhere near enough and were far too pedestrian with the ball.”

European roundup: Dortmund win but Bayern top after hammering Wolfsburg Read more

Aberdeen’s McInnes was the happier manager by far. “By and large the defensive work of the team was excellent in the first half,” McInnes said. “I thought second half, maybe having that extra midfielder allowed us to get a bit more control but I also thought our attacking players offered us more.”

ROUNDUP

David Turnbull and Jake Hastie continued their fine goalscoring form as Motherwell beat Hamilton 3-0 at Fir Park to move within two points of the Premiership top six.

But it was Gboly Ariyibi who shone in the match and was trouble for Accies in the opening half, and the right-back Ziggy Gordon in particular, with a performance full of speed and skill.

The first-half rout began in the third minute when Turnbull trundled home Ariyibi’s low cross from six yards. Ariyibi, the on-loan Nottingham Forest wide man soon forced a good save from Gary Woods after galloping between two players and was then upended by Alex Gogic inside the box after a nifty exchange of passes. Turnbull sent Woods the wrong way from the resulting penalty in the 11th minute. Ariyibi was again involved as Motherwell’s pressure paid off again in the 37th minute. His initial cross was only half cleared and Hastie was on hand to steer home from six yards after Turnbull had intervened.

Dundee fell to their third straight league defeat as Hearts added to their woes at Dens Park with a narrow 1-0 victory. After back-to-back defeats against Hibs and Rangers, Jim McIntyre’s side were hoping to stop the rot but ended up playing a major role in their own downfall by gifting Sean Clare a the winner in the 15th minute. Dundee’s defence failed to clear their lines and left Clare with the simple task of prodding the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Seny Dieng from a few yards out.

The Livingston manager, Gary Holt, celebrated his 46th birthday by seeing his team fight back to beat St Johnstone 3-1. Saints captain Joe Shaughnessy broke the deadlock for the visitors, who have now lost eight and drawn one of their last nine matches, before Craig Halkett restored parity seven minutes before the break. Craig Sibbald headed in Scott Robinson’s cross seconds after the restart and Scott Pittman sealed the victory in injury time. The victory moves Livingston to within a point of St Johnstone.