Commons got Celtic off to a flying start as they dismantled Aberdeen at Hampden

By Colin Moffat BBC Scotland at Hampden

Debuts don't come much sweeter than Kris Commons's first appearance in a Celtic shirt.

The 27-year-old finalised his move to Glasgow from Derby on Thursday evening, found out he was playing at Hampden an hour or so before kick-off and had scored the opening goal against Aberdeen within six minutes.

Twenty eight minutes later, Celtic were leading 4-0 and cruising into the final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

"I found out I was playing at quarter to two and I was surprised given that the team had played so well against Hearts in midweek," explained the Scotland international.

"But the gaffer had faith in me to do a job and I was happy to repay him.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it, we managed to get four goals in the first half and so it was a great start to my Celtic career."

MY SPORT: DEBATE How did you rate Commons's first outing for Celtic?

Commons is not blessed with the lightning speed often associated with wingers but he displayed a fine touch, twinned with an impressive change of pace when confronted by an opponent.

And with support from full-back Emilio Izaguirre, who really can fly, Celtic supporters will be excited at the prospect of this new combination on the left flank.

The signing of Commons came as something of a surprise, given there is hardly a shortage of diminutive tricky wide players at manager Neil Lennon's disposal.

However, if the Mansfield-born star can maintain the level of performance on show at the national stadium, the £300,000 paid to Derby will represent an extremely shrewd bit of business.

Aberdeen manager Craig Brown was among those who thought there was an element of luck about the goal Commons scored.

"I've got to think that Commons's goal was a cross, he was very fortunate," said the deflated Dons boss. "I was right behind him and he was crossing the ball, in my opinion.

"If it was a shot then he's a far more skilful guy than Maradona. I was sure he was crossing it for the big fellas in the box."

But the winger was adamant that there was nothing jammy about his effort from the left edge of the penalty area, which found its way into the opposite top corner of Jamie Langfield's net.

"You've obviously not seen my goals," was his laughing reply when asked if it had been a deliberate strike by one cynical member of the media. "Yes it was a shot.

"I do that kind of stuff in training and luckily it came off.

"I saw a wide area of the goal towards the back stick and thought 'why not?'

"Alan Thompson [Celtic coach] told me to be positive and to have a go anywhere around 25 yards out, and luckily for me it hit the back of the net."

There was more than a touch of Thompson's old swagger about Commons but he was the first to acknowledge that he has to build on what was a very promising first outing in green and white.

"I've got to carry that on," he said. "Hopefully it's not a one-off and I can find that sort of form throughout the season."

Having already surpassed his best-ever goals tally this term, with 13 for Derby and one on Scotland duty before his Hampden outing, Commons is clearly a player on top of his game and full of confidence.

But with Lennon, a former team-mate of his at Nottingham Forest, snarling away on the touchline as Celtic lost their rhythm in a disjointed second half, and players like Freddie Ljungberg, Pat McCourt and James Forrest absent from the semi-final line-up, Commons will know he can't rest on his laurels.

Even if he has just been told that he is better than Maradona by a former Scotland manager.

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