| Match Pictures | Matches: 2000 – 2001 | 2000-2001 Pictures |
Trivia
- Graeme Souness was reported to have given up on the prospect of taking Eyal Berkovic to Blackburn Rovers.
- Mark Burchill joined Birmingham City on a three month loan deal on 22/9/00. There was also an option to purchase the young striker for £1.5million.
Review
A dull match with Dundee coming to defend throughout.
Teams
Celtic:
Gould, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby, McNamara, Thompson (Healy 80), Lambert, Petrov, Moravcik (Stubbs 84), Larsson (Berkovic 90), Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Tebily.
Goals: Petrov 61.
Booked: Petrov (Celtic)
Dundee:
Douglas, Smith, Tweed, Wilkie, Artero, Romano (Robertson 89), Rae, Bonetti, McSkimming, Nemsadze (Falconer 64), Sara (Milne 75).
Subs Not Used: Langfield, C. Coyne.
Booked: Romano, Wilkie, Falconer. (Dundee)
Referee: T Brown (Scotland).
Attendance: 59,694
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Dundee | |
| Bookings | 1 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 17 | 12 |
| Shots on Target | 10 | 2 |
| Corners | 6 | 1 |
| Offside | 3 | 1 |
Petrov finds key for Celtic
Scotland on Sunday 24/09/2000
Graham Spiers at Celtic Park
Celtic 1 Dundee 0
YOU don't often hear Dundee fans making much noise at Parkhead, but they managed a minor racket yesterday. It all proved a lot of bluster over nothing. The visitors came to this fixture seeking to stifle Celtic and that priority took precedence over them actually expanding their own play. Dundee, though, we soon learned, had other things to be angry about.
Not a lot of this match was helped by some eccentric refereeing. Tom Brown, an official whose name doesn't yet resonate among the other great tyrants in black, seemed to suffer peculiar gut-instincts in decisions he reached. One of the worst sins in football is for casual on-lookers to suddenly pronounce themselves members of a jury over a referee's performance, yet it was impossible to ignore Brown's eccentricity. The worst was surely Brown's decision to penalise Chris Sutton going through on goal, when it had been Lee Wilkie, who won the foul, who had been wrestling the striker to the turf. Sutton, on this evidence, must still feel unloved in Scotland.
Dundee imported a game of attrition to Glasgow and, for all their added flair this season, were never convinced about throwing themselves forward. In the opening minutes, Juan Sara popped a header against the crossbar, but this was to prove an illusion in terms of the attitude of the visitors. Sara, in fact, played as a lone striker for most of his 70 minutes on the park. It wasn't until the 75th minute, indeed, when Dundee startled us by bringing on two Scots, Willie Falconer and Steven Milne, that they truly unleashed an attacking duo.
There were regrets about this because, amid their fad for Latins and Hispanics, there was a conviction that this team are capable of playing brighter and breezier football. Sara, for one, has obvious gifts, and so does the canny Georgian, Giorgi Nemsadze, whose clever prods around his team-mates always threatened to make Dundee more inventive than they were. On a stage such as this, what did a mid-table team have to lose?
But Dundee's player-manager, Ivano Bonetti, evidently had other things on his mind. He revealed after the match that the club's promising Argentinian striker, Fabian Caballero, could be out for as much as six months following the tackle by Jason de Vos in the Tayside derby last Wednesday. A scan has revealed that Caballero's knee suffered damage to the fibula as well as to both cruciate ligaments. De Vos was red-carded for his lunge but the quiet-spoken Bonetti was still simmering yesterday.
"We have learned that we will now be without Caballero for maybe four, five or even six months because of the damage done by the tackle," he said. "I am very angry about it. When you lose a player in an honest tackle you can take it but this was the sort of tackle I cannot understand. Dundee United are the worst team I have ever played against for this kind of thing. Three or four times in that game such tackles went in. Surely a team like this has to learn that this is football we're playing, not war."
From a forgettable match, Celtic's manager, Martin O'Neill, will at least have taken something. Johan Mjallby, playing as part of a three-man defence, again played comfortably and with resolute toughness in the tackle. It has been one of the mysteries surrounding Mjallby that both Sweden and Celtic have sometimes preferred him as a midfielder. Yesterday, sandwiched between Tom Boyd and Joos Valgaeren, the Swede made some incisive tackles and not infrequently was dumped in a heap having done so. In one brave interception in the second half he risked his limbs stopping Gavin Rae, who was bursting through on goal.
Dundee aren't as full of immigrants as you first think, although there is certainly enough Latin blood swilling around their team-sheet to raise tempers, even among themselves. The foreign transfusion has given an edge and maybe a reason for living to these miserable fans who have suffered years of rubbish at Dens Park, yet sometimes Dundee were their own worst enemy.
Bonetti even rushed up to Alessandro Romano and shoved him in the chest in an angry moment. Romano, a little startled, promptly shoved Bonnetti back. Bonetti busied himself ploughing up Dundee's left flank while his brother, Dario, watched this with quiet despair from the dug-out. The two of them make a slightly beguiling pair, scruffy in their own way, Dario yesterday with his shirt-collar and crumpled sweater hanging off him, much as Ivano looks whenever he pops up on television. They've certainly put together a picture of a team, with Italians and South Americans infesting the place in a way that Dundee's supporters must feel is an unlikely act of God.
Bonetti's prized striker, Sara, of course, certainly believes in the Lord. If this player's English dares to get better he'll be in danger of being signed by the Fishermen's Mission in Dundee, complete with his array of Lord-lovin' vests. Yesterday, Sara was grossly unlucky not put Dundee ahead when that agile header pranged off the bar. He was eventually hauled off having had a luckless 70 minutes. As it is inscribed in the Book of Job, and perhaps should be on Sara's shirt: "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."
This was a shabby match and both these teams have surely had better days. After that early attempt by Sara, coming after six minutes, the visitors were limited to a few scuffed efforts. Celtic, though, couldn't claim to have performed much better, squealing for a penalty here and there as they tried to tear open a cohesive Dundee. In the opening half, indeed, Celtic's closest attempt was a Sutton header which Rab Douglas did well to slap wide following some nice work and a cross from Alan Thompson.
Celtic's goal when it arrived after 61 minutes was a piece of Dundee incompetence. Thompson once more lobbed in a perceptive cross but Stilian Petrov was allowed to arrive at the far post in acres of space and the Bulgarian's header sent the ball past Douglas.
- Manager Interview
Martin O’Neill post match:
"It was a very difficult day and I'm very pleased to have won.
"We could possibly have scored a second goal because we had a good period after Stilian gave us the lead, but, getting towards the end, you don't want to concede anything. Hence the introduction of Stubbs. And, of course, Lubo is almost as old as me now (Moravcik is 35), so you have to look after his old legs.
"We had a lot of possession in the match, without getting to where we wanted to go and, on days like these, you have to be patient. We showed that and, just as important, so did the crowd. Some of the players were just saying in the dressing-room that in similar circumstances last year, the supporters would have been getting a bit restless."
"When I was making assessments of what we had in the summer, apart from watching videos, I wasn't completely sure of what Stilian could do. But I did say that teams with aspirations to high achievement all have midfielders who can contribute goals.
"I thought he could do that and now he has that role, with Paul Lambert in the holding position. We needed his goal all right, because Dundee made it difficult for us. I think there's no doubt that our being at the top of the league gives opponents more of an incentive. We saw it last Monday at Dunfermline, too, when we also had to show patience to get the result."
Celtic 1 Dundee 0 By Chris Roberts, PA Sport
Stilian Petrov was the toast of Parkhead after producing a superb second-half winner to give manager Martin O'Neill his 12th win a row.
This was far from vintage Celtic but again they showed great resolution to snatch a victory when a draw looked the most likely outcome with Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson having an off day.
The home side sweated and probed the Dundee defence all afternoon in search of a goal, but it was the little Bulgarian who supplied a match-winning header from Lubo Moravcik's cross to maintain Celtic's lead at the top of the Premier League.
Ivano Bonetti's Dundee side came to Parkhead with their tails up after the midweek victory over Dundee United and looked like frustrating Celtic and taking back a point with them before Petrov rewarded the home side's efforts.
This game promised goals and excitement with the visitors never out of the news, but it was Celtic who started brightest.
And the home side had calls for a penalty as early as the second minute when Swedish striker Henrik Larsson crashed to the ground under the challenge of Lee Wilkie and Barry Smith, but the referee waved away protests.
But it was the visitors who came agonisingly close to drawing first blood in the sixth minute when Juan Sara rose unmarked in the box to head Bonetti's corner against the crossbar.
Larsson then linked up with Moravcik outside the box in the 10th minute and the Slovakian tried his luck from the edge of the area, but goalkeeper Robert Douglas got down well to his right to deny Celtic the opener.
Dundee looked dangerous on the counter-attack, but it was the home side who were pressing for the first goal of the afternoon.
Jackie McNamara tried to thread the ball through to Larsson who was lurking menacingly in the box, but Shaun McSkimming was on hand to clear the danger.
Moments later and the home crowd were outraged when Larsson appeared to time his run perfectly in talking Moravcik's through-ball in his stride but the linesman had no hesitation in flagging for off-side.
But Celtic were denied taking the lead in the 18th minute by the heroics of Douglas when he somehow pushed over a header from striker Chris Sutton after a great ball from Alan Thompson.
Douglas again had to be alert in the 24th minute when Moravcik whipped in a dangerous cross from the left wing, but he comfortably claimed with Larsson and Sutton putting him under pressure.
Celtic continued to press and a minute later Thompson was inches away from giving his side the lead when he took the ball in his stride before unleashing a fierce low shot which flew just past the upright.
Petrov then went down in the box, somewhat theatrically, under the challenge of Alessandro Romano which sparked a furious reaction from the Italian.
But Larsson got his first sight of goal in the 29th minute when he found himself space in the box but lifted his effort just over the crossbar.
Romano became the first man in the referee's notebook in the 36th minute when brought Moravcik down with a reckless tackle.
From the resulting free-kick Celtic almost took the lead when Thompson swung in a dangerous cross from the left wing which Sutton got a touch to but it lacked the power to beat Douglas in the Dundee goal.
Thompson again threatened the visiting goal in the 38th minute when Petrov played him into acres of space on the left and the midfielder struck a powerful left-footed effort which flashed just past Douglas' post.
Douglas was again called into action in the 42nd minute when Moravcik left Smith on the floor on the left of the area and he tried to square the ball to Sutton across the face of goal but the Dundee keeper dived low to save.
Two minutes before the break and Larsson tried to find Moravcik in the box with a cross to the far post, but he could not keep his header down.
In the last minute of the half the Slovakian tried a dipping shot from outside the box which was just too high.
The home side upped the tempo after the break, but they were again hitting a brick wall as the Dundee defence remained defiant.
Celtic were concerned in the 49th minute when the reliable Johan Mjallby was caught late by McSkimming as he lost control of the ball and he escaped without even a booking.
Moravcik was presented with a shooting chance in the 50th minute, but McSkimming made a goal-saving block in the area to keep his side on level terms.
The Celtic fans began to grow with frustration, but Sutton could have settled the nerves in the 52nd minute when he rose to meet Moravcik's corner in the box, but he glanced his header wide of the post.
But Douglas almost cost his side in the 57th minute when he made a meal of Sutton's long-range shot which he could only parry into the path of Larsson, but luckily for the keeper, Wilkie made a timely interception to spare his blushes.
Despite their frustration Celtic refused to lie down and in the 61st minute their perseverance was rewarded when Moravcik swung the ball to Petrov unmarked at the back post and the Bulgarian headed down passed Douglas.
Dundee knew they had to go for a goal now and just two minutes later Gould almost surrendered their lead when he made a hash of Bonetti's free-kick, but he was grateful to collect at the second attempt.
But Wilkie was fortunate in the 66th minute not receive a yellow if not a red card after wrestling Sutton to the ground after a long hopeful ball down field by Gould and the striker was bemused as the referee adjudged the striker to be the offender.
The defender, however, did earn himself a booking moments later for a foul on Moravcik and then Petrov quickly followed him into the referee's notebook with a bad tackle on Bonetti.
But Douglas almost cost his side in the 57th minute when he made a meal of Sutton's long-range shot which he could only parry into the path of Larsson, but luckily for the keeper, Wilkie made a timely interception to spare his blushes.
Dundee tried their hardest to pull back the equaliser and threw everything at Celtic in the closing minutes, but Celtic dug deep to grab a hard-earned victory.
Teams
Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby, McNamara, Thompson (Healy 80), Lambert, Petrov, Moravcik (Stubbs 84), Larsson (Berkovic 90), Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Tebily.
Booked: Petrov.
Goals: Petrov 61.
Dundee: Douglas, Smith, Tweed, Wilkie, Artero, Romano (Robertson 89), Rae, Bonetti, McSkimming, Nemsadze (Falconer 64), Sara (Milne 75).
Subs Not Used: Langfield, C. Coyne.
Booked: Romano, Wilkie, Falconer.
Att: 59,694
Ref: T Brown (Scotland).