2017-03-19: Dundee 1-2 Celtic, SP

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Trivia

• Celtic edge closer to title, but have to wait for the next match to seal it.
• Celtic domestic winning streak came to a halt last week after 28 games when Celtic drew with TheRangers. Unbeaten domestic run continues.
• Minute silence for Ex-Celt & Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell who passed away recently, he played for Celtic & managed Dundee.
• Bizarre moment in match when O'Dea (now at Dundee) wrestled a Celtic player in a tackle by the neck. Strange.
• Internationals next week.
• TheRangers have a manager, and already we are laughing.
• Gambler who took Coral to court over a bet that Rangers (deidco) were relegated, lost his case. Arnold Kinloch placed £100 on the Ibrox club being relegated from the SPL in 2011 and was given odds of 2500 by Coral Racing. Lord Bannatyne said: “The foregoing process cannot be described as being moved by anyone to a lower division, or being moved down or demoted.” The judge said: “I am satisfied that what did not happen was that the SPL moved or demoted Rangers to a lower division.” “Rangers ended up in a lower division by the entry into a contract which allowed them to join the SFL in the third division,” said the judge.
• An appeal over the ‘big tax case’ relating to oldco Rangers being heard at the Supreme Court. Liquidators BDO were allowed to challenge the 2015 verdict which ruled in favour of HMRC over the club’s use of employee benefit trusts (EBT). The Ibrox club used the scheme for a number of years to give several high profile players and managers tax-free income.
• BT Sport expected to make record bid for sole TV rights for Scottish football.
• Celtic announced the hiring of former Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton as the club’s new head of recruitment.

Review

(morav 67 of KDS)
Made that harder than it needed to be, and we were flat for a lot of that game. But 3 points in the bag, 3 points from the title, 27 wins in 29 league games, and we're still unbeaten domestically. We were always going to hit a point in the season where we would struggle as teams adapted tactics against us, and the legs start to give out. The break comes at a good time.

We need to do something about these slow starts, though. We need to start setting the tempo of games earlier on.

(columbo of KDS)
Well we won – job done – but forgettable stuff.

A number of the players that had us rolling over teams have dipped over the last 2 or 3 games and the absence of Rogic is felt even more when that happens.

The left side ,where we were so strong, is not functioning 100% at this time.

KT looked tired and indecisive today and Sinclair not anywhere near his best although he is capable of magic even in games where he is very quiet

The young Dundee right back had the freshness KT was showing earlier in the season.

O'Dea followed up his hack on Rogic in the last game with a rugby tackle on Sinclair that Craig Moore would have been proud of.

Forrest composure when on the bye line made all the difference and Armstrong the best player – as usual.

(Sevilliano of KDS)
Armstrong and jozo superb

Dembele and Sinclair need rested

Griffiths and Forrest will do the job

Would like to see jozo and Erik at back boyata gives me fear

Izzy for kt and gamboa for lustig

Oh and koassi may need a bit of time to settle so let's not put him into semi

Phenomenal season though let's make sure it's a treble

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Dundee 1 – 2 Celtic: Champions one match from clinching title

Celtic moved to within one win of a sixth successive Ladbrokes Premiership title with a narrow 2-1 victory over battling Dundee at Dens Park.

They took the lead with the last action of an unremarkable first half, visiting defender Jozo Simunovic’s shot deflecting in off Dundee counterpart Kevin Gomis, before in-form midfielder Stuart Armstrong made it 2-0 with a 51st-minute header.

Paul Hartley’s men rallied and substitute Faissal El Bakhtaoui made an immediate impact when he came on in the 74th minute before thundering in a 25-yard drive two minutes later.

But Celtic saw out the rest of the game to move back 25 points ahead of Aberdeen with nine games remaining and extend their unbeaten domestic run since the start of the season to 36 matches.

Brendan Rodgers’ men can clinch the title when they play Hearts at Tynecastle after the international break.

Midfielder Callum McGregor made his 100th appearance for Celtic with Simunovic making a return, while midfielder Tom Hateley and defender Gomis came in for the home side.

Before the lunchtime kick-off there was a minute’s silence for Tommy Gemmell, left-back in the Celtic side which won the European Cup in 1967 and former player and manager at Dundee, who died recently.

Hartley had told his players to go for broke in the match and they started aggressively, refusing to let the visitors settle.

Celtic slowly worked themselves into the game, though, and in the 16th minute striker Moussa Dembele headed an Armstrong corner just past the post.

It looked like the Dark Blues had been handed their first warning but the tempo of the match took a dip with play becoming scrappy.

Dundee won a couple of corners which were defended but otherwise their attacking threat was non-existent.

The champions-elect turned the screw towards the end of the half.

Dundee defender Cameron Kerr prevented Scott Sinclair’s close-range header testing goalkeeper Scott Bain before former Celtic midfielder Paul McGowan cleared a Dedryck Boyata header off the line.

It seemed like the Taysiders would see out the half unscathed but, right at the death, Simunovic shot from James Forrest’s cross struck Gomis and bounced past Bain at his post.

The breakthrough changed the complexion of the game and no doubt Hartley’s half-time team talk.

Whatever the Dundee boss said to his players needed readjusting just six minutes after the break when Celtic doubled their lead.

Armstrong, in Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad for the forthcoming double-header against Canada and Slovenia, headed in a Forrest cross from ten yards.

Celtic began moving the ball around with assurance but just after the hour mark, Dundee’s Canadian striker Marcus Haber squandered a good chance when he fired wide from 16 yards after being set up by McGowan.

Dundee pushed forward in search of a lifeline which came when substitute El Bakhtaoui, on two minutes earlier for Henrik Ojamaa, sent a drive screaming past Celtic keeper Craig Gordon.

After Haber headed a Kevin Holt free-kick past the post, Rodgers brought on defender Erik Sviatchenko for Sinclair to shore up the defence which held firm for the three points which put Celtic on the cusp of another title.

BBC

By Chris McLaughlin

BBC Sport at Dens Park

2 hours ago From the section Football

Jozo Simunovic steers the ball towards goal for Celtic's opener
Jozo Simunovic was falling backwards but managed to steer the ball goalwards for Celtic's opener

Celtic moved to within one win of their sixth straight Scottish Premiership title with victory at Dundee.

The hosts frustrated Celtic for most of the first half, Dedryck Boyata's header cleared off the line by Paul McGowan.

But Jozo Simunovic's flick towards goal deflected off Kevin Gomis to creep in, and Stuart Armstrong headed in a James Forrest cross to double the lead.

Marcus Haber missed two good chances for Dundee, but Faissal El Bakhtaoui's 25-yard stunner ensured a nervy finale.

Ultimately though, Brendan Rodgers' side extended their unbeaten domestic run this season to 36 matches.

With a 25-point lead over second-placed Aberdeen and nine games left, Celtic could clinch the title in their next Premiership match against Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday, 2 April, although they would already be champions if the Dons fail to secure at least a point at Dundee on 31 March.

Paul Hartley's side remain in eighth place, four points off the top six.

We have witnessed many different types of performances from the Celtic juggernaut as it rolls relentlessly towards six titles in a row. This was a mixture of the good and the ugly – there is rarely bad.

When things are not going their way, they simply put their heads down and grind away at teams until they finally buckle.

It's not always pretty but it's usually positive, and so it was in the first half against a very well organised Dundee side determined to change their fortunes after two straight defeats.
Dundee's Darren O'Dea wrestles Celtic winger Scott Sinclair to the ground
Dundee's Darren O'Dea earned a booking after wrestling Celtic winger Scott Sinclair to the ground

Celtic dominated but despite trying to progress down both flanks and through the middle, and enjoying set-pieces galore, Dundee stood firm and looked likely to head into the break all-square.

But the buckle came just seconds before the whistle when – moments after McGowan cleared Boyata's header off the line – Simunovic fired in at close range, with a little help from a deflection off the back of Gomis.

The goal certainly fired Celtic up and took some of the wind out of Dundee's sails.

Rodgers' side flew at the Dark Blues from the restart and doubled their lead via a 12th goal of the season from Armstrong, who flicked his header expertly past Scott Bain after a fabulous run and cross from Forrest.

Most observers of Celtic this season would have bet their mortgage on that being game over. Ultimately that proved correct but the thanks for that went to the defence.

Hartley's side went into this fixture having failed to pick up a point or score a goal in March, following a productive February that featured an impressive 2-1 win over Rangers.
Faissal El Bakhtaoui celebrates scoring for Dundee
Faissal El Bakhtaoui scored only his third goal since joining Dundee last summer

The same spirit was evident at the start and end of this match as Dundee fought, pressed and harried Celtic all over the pitch and made life difficult for the visitors' flair players such as Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair.

Hartley once again showed his tactical prowess when he changed things in the second half and watched his side claw their way back through a spectacular solo effort from El Baktaoui.

The Moroccan striker came off the bench and skipped through the Celtic midfield before firing into Craig Gordon's top right-hand corner. It was simply stunning.

Haber should have scored before that but screwed his effort wide. It was a defeat for the Dee but far from a demoralising one.
Post-match reaction:

Dundee boss Paul Hartley: "I felt, especially in the second half, we were excellent.

"We knew they would have a lot of possession but even in the first half they never really cut us open, and it was a bit of sucker punch with the opening goal, where they got a bit of fortune.

"We conceded a poor second goal but we changed the shape to 4-4-2, Marcus Haber had an excellent opportunity and we scored an excellent goal. I'm pleased with the players' attitude – they never gave in, they kept believing.

"El Bakhtaoui has that in his locker, but he has just not been consistent enough. He has jumped up two leagues (after scoring 30 goals for Dunfermline in League One last season), and we knew it was never going to be easy for him. But he just needs to produce it more often."

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers: "Dundee have picked up of late, they make things very difficult and we knew it would be a tough game.

"But we deserved the victory, even if it was a bit closer in the end than it should have been.

"At times we played some fantastic football and had chances to make it more comfortable but we didn't make the final pass, and we gave away a poor goal on the defensive side, although it was a great finish.

"Then we had to show we could stand up to a lot of high balls coming into our box, but the players did magnificently to defend that.

"There is a different competition in itself, to see who can maybe be the first (domestic) team to beat Celtic. But we can only apply ourselves as well as we possibly can. I've told the players not to worry about headlines in terms of 'invincibles' or 'trebles'. My worry is just to play the best football we can, and if we do that, we will win games."