Under normal circumstances, this fixture would have presented Aberdeen with an enormous opportunity.
The enticing prospect of a statement win against a Celtic side coming off a European drubbing, and without a domestic away win since Valentine’s Day.
But the Dons’ own loveless dry spell delivered them here on equally tentative terms with their tail-spinning opponents.
It allowed the visiting side, which has been shoved onto the back foot by a series of fragility-sensing recent hosts, to play the aggressor and set the terms of reference throughout a tepid and timid first half.
When the situation called for Aberdeen to kick Celtic while they were down, they largely stood back and watched them drag themselves up from the floor.
That the Dons restored parity so quickly after the break, and looked the likelier winners for much of the remainder, only served to emphasise what a chance had been passed up.
For them to leave the field at full-time still in the Premiership’s bottom half – looking up at unbeaten Hearts the erstwhile leaders – showed that it was not an isolated episode of profligacy.
The division was always going to be in a state of transformation this season, with virtually all of its big hitters experiencing significant changes in direction, personnel, the pressures under which they work, or a combination of them all.
If the summer was a pit stop, many changed their wheels seamlessly and have driven off many miles down the road, while the Reds remain up on the jack.
Missing the jump when the season’s race began doesn’t necessarily predict the car’s performance once it finally figures out how to escape the garage, but it can leave an infeasible distance to catch up.
There is only so many times they can be happy looking out of the cockpit at rivals completing another lap.