2000-12-10: Dundee 1-2 Celtic, Premier League

December11, 2000

’IT'S THE LUCK OF THE IRISH’ PREMIER ANALYSIS: O'Neill's battling Bhoys finally get the nod in Dens thriller to keep their big title challenge in the fast lane

BYLINE:By Thomas Jordan

MARTIN O'NEILL has brought something toCelticthat all the money in the world couldn't buy.

The Irishman could land all the top players from around Europe by shelling out millions in transfer fees and the huge salaries they command – but it's impossible to put a price on good luck.That is what thePremier Leagueleaders are carrying at the moment, as was proved in their last-gasp 2-1 win overDundeeat Dens Park.At best, O'Neill and his side should have been heading back down to Glasgow with only a point in the bag after being outplayed by Ivano Bonetti's team for most of the match.

In the past, that is all they would have had to show for their efforts. However, things are different this season under O'Neill, and, as Didier Agathe's last-minute winner showed,Celticare going to be extremely difficult to move off top spot.

In fact, it's victories like last night's that win championships and it seemsCelticare destined to finish in pole position.True, it's still a little too early to call it quits because, as we all know, things can change very quickly in this business.Look at it this way. HadCelticdrawn withDundee,and Rangers won their two matches in hand, all of a sudden Dick Advocaat's men would have been right back in contention.

So, if Tom Boyd walks up to collect the league trophy in May, then he can look back to their smash-and-grab job at Dens as one of the most important results of the season.None of the Parkhead players will come out just yet and say they will win the league, but you can tell how vital this result was for them.Like everyone else, they know they didn't deserve to win, but this team doesn't know when they are beaten.

O'Neill was clearly relieved and thrilled with the result and the fact his men didn't let their heads go down when things didn't go their way.He said: "I'm just delighted with the win. To pick up the three points is the most important thing for us at the moment.

"I thought it was a fantastic game andDundeecan consider themselves very unfortunate not to get something out of the match.

"We started well by scoring after just four minutes when Stilian Petrov put us ahead and we also had a good chance to double our lead when Lubo Moravcik went through on the goalkeeper but overran the ball.

"Perhaps that was the turning point because if we had got a
second goal, then it may have been a different game.

"But they were well in the match at that stage and I thought they thoroughly deserved their equaliser and I was impressed withDundee.

"The last half-hour could have gone either way with both sides going for the win.

"We kept going for the win right up until the last minute and luckily we got the goal."

All eyes were on £5.75m midfielder Neil Lennon to see how he would perform in his first SPL outing after starring in the Premiership with Leicester.
And he immediately won himself a huge roar from the visiting support when he put in a brilliant sliding tackle onDundeeforward Juan Sara to win back possession.
Lennon will be the first to hold his hands up and say that he can play a lot better, but he showed his quality at times and will be a key player for his new club in the coming months.

It looked as though his arrival had boosted his team-mates as they stormed into an early lead. Bobby Petta found Moravcik inside the penalty box and Petrov finished off his cut-back in style, side-footing a shot high into the net.

However, they couldn't build on that and graduallyDundeecrept into the game and were unfortunate to go in at half-time a goal behind.

Bonetti's team didn't have long to wait after the interval before they were back on level terms. Claudio Caniggia got free on the left and whipped in a dangerous cross for Sara, only for Boyd to head the ball past keeper Robert Douglas and into his own net.

After that, it was a case of hanging on forCeltic,until O'Neill changed his formation. He deserves credit for that, because it certainly brought his side back into contention.The back three were being pulled all over the place byDundee'sfront pairing of Caniggia and Sara before the Irishman swapped Petta with Jackie McNamara with 25
minutes remaining.

O'Neill changed to a 4-4-2 formation, and that led to an immediate improvement.It paid dividends whenCelticstole the points in the last minute after a Petrov
corner caused problems in theDundeesix-yard box. Chris Coyne's attempted clearance rebounded off Steven Tweed straight to the unmarked Agathe, and he knocked the ball into the net from just a yard out.

It was a cruel lesson for Bonetti's team, and he said: "When you lose a goal in the last seconds, and do it twice in seven days, something tells me that's not possible.

"I think we are playing very well and I am happy with the way they performed and for the fans to see them play like that.

"It was a wonderful match, but I am still disappointed not to get the points when we had the chance to win again, so I am very unhappy in that way.

December11, 2000

Celticgrab late goal in Dens Park escape act

BYLINE:Ken Gallacher

DUNDEE…1CELTIC…2
Celticclung to their lead at the top of thePremierLeaguelast night when Didier Agathe snatched a goal in injury time to rescue the Parkhead team as victory had seemed to move beyond their grasp.They had taken the lead in four minutes through Stilian Petrov and had then hung on for the rest of the first half as a Claudio Caniggia-inspiredDundeeplaced them under enormous pressure as they looked for the equaliser.

They got that 10 minutes after half-time when a Caniggia cross was headed past his own keeper by Tom Boyd. However,Celtic, refusing to buckle even under the menace of Caniggia and the other Latin imports who have transformed this Dens Park team, found it within themselves to fight back and get the winner.

They were attacking in the last quarter of an hour, looking more dangerous than they had since they scored.Dundeesurvived penalty appeals when Giorgio Nemsadze handled as he cleared in his own penalty box and then Tom Boyd and Alan Thompson were both yellow-carded asCeltic'sefforts became increasingly frantic.

Then, just after the announcement that there was a minute to be added,Celticforced a corner on the left. Petrov swung it into goal where Johan Mjallby won it. For a moment, the ball bounced on theDundeesix-yard line as keeper Marco Roccati failed to collect it. The ball then broke towards the far post and Agathe was there to force it over the line.

Celtic, though, had often been outplayed by the swiftDundeeside who must feel aggrieved that they were not able to take even a point from such a performance.It was not a nightCelticwill want to dwell on – the late, late goal from Agathe apart. New boy Neil Lennon celebrated along with the support but there must have been a great deal of relief in his mind. He found the pace of the game a little frantic at times but his passing was accurate and precise and he will do better once he settles.

Any notions of holdingCelticand hitting them on the counter- attack thatDundeemay have held before this game were destroyed within the first four minutes.

The opening goal it came within a simple and direct move, Didier Agathe beginning it with powerful running on the right and a cross into goal where the ball was moved on to the left flank. Lubo-mir Moravcik was there and he clipped the ball back for the incoming Petrov to drive a shot beyond Marco Roccati and into goal.

Dundeewere now forced on to the attack, a role they relished as the first half unfolded and thePremierLeagueleaders began to realise that, despite their early strike, they had serious challenge on their hands from the Dens Park men, though the home team did lose Marco de Marchi after just five minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Chris Coyne came on but the change did not seem to upset home team at all.

That was mainly becauseCelticwere being pushed back into their own half as Caniggia and his fellow attackers piled on the pressure.Dundeewere carrying the game to the Parkhead side and the Argentinian went clear and placed a superb pass to Bento Carranza. He moved the ball in to Juan Sara whose shot was blocked.

Dundeethen forced a string of corners without being able to make any on them count, but they deserved an equaliser in 30 minutes when a through-ball from Marcello Marrocco again found Caniggia. This time the striker raced away from his defensive markers, drew Robert Douglas from his line, and then clipped the ball for goal. Joos Valgaeren just made it back to clear the ball just short of the goal line.

Before half-time, Douglas had to move swiftly to hold a headed clearance rom Mjallby and Sara headed over the bar before Alan Thompson relieved the pressure with a break and shot which Roccati beat down and cleared.

Tommy Johnson replaced Moravcik at the start of the second half, but the flow of the game remained unchanged and in the fifty-fifth minute Caniggia, who had tormented theCelticdefenders throughout, was sent clear on the left.

He whipped in a cross and Tom Boyd, trying to clear from the lurking Sara, only succeeded in scoring a spectacular own goal with a diving header which left poor Douglas unable to reach the ball.

Five minutes later Caniggia was off again with theCelticdefenders helpless against his close control. He left them all in his wake and struck an angled shot into the side net.

In 65 minutes Jackie McNamara replaced Bobby Petta and then Shaun McSkimming took over from Javier Artero forDundee.

Following that came the lethal finish from Agathe andCeltictravelled back to Glasgow with their lead unscathed.