Dundee were thrashed 7-1 by Celtic in Glasgow tonight. The Hoops blew the Dark Blues away in a blistering first half and led 6-0 at half time with goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Adam Idah, Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda, Greg Taylor and Callum McGregor. Daniel Kelly made it seven midway through the second half. Substitute Michael Mellon gave the Dee a late consolation goal, but this was a match dominated by a ruthless Celtic from start to finish.
Tony Docherty talked about freshening up the Dee team and he duly made five changes to the starting eleven following Saturday’s defeat at Hibs. Antonio Portales, Ricki Lamie came into the defence after long spells out through injury. Fin Robertson and Malachi Boateng came into the midfield, and Curtis Main started in attack. They replaced Aaron Donnelly, Lyall Cameron, Mo Sylla, Scott Tiffoney and Dara Costelloe.
Dundee forced Joe Hart to make a decent save from Jordan McGhee’s fierce angled shot within 30 seconds. From the corner the ball broke to Owen Beck who flashed a shot across goal and narrowly wide. The bright start might have kidded the Dark Blues that they could attack Celtic with impunity. That was swiftly revealed to be completely unrealistic.
Owen Beck was caught out by Yang and fouled the South Korean winger. Matt O’Riley sent over a simple, but perfectly executed free kick and Cameron CARTER-VICKERS crashed home a header at the far post. Seven minutes gone, and Celtic not only had the lead but had been given a massive boost. The crowd and team fed off each other and the Dee were on the rack. Celtic never offered them any relief.
18 minutes and Alistair Johnston was sent to the byline on the right. His cross to the far post allowed Adam IDAH to smack a powerful header past Trevor Carson.
22 minutes and Celtic scored another horribly simple goal from a cross. This time it was Greg Taylor who crossed from the left and O’RILEY had an easy chance to make it 3-0 with a diving header.
30 minutes. Daizen MAIDA had time and space to take O’Riley’s pass and score with a curling shot across Carson.
36 minutes. A cross from the right skipped off the top of Ricki Lamie’s head and took out the defenders behind him. Greg TAYLOR was left with an easy chance to knock in number 5 at the far post.
As the clocked ticked past 45 minutes Dundee provided the fans with a moment of relief from misery when Curtis Main ran onto Amadou Bakayoko’s header, bullied his way past John Scales and netted. That fleeting moment of enjoyment was immediately curtailed. With the ball already on the centre spot a VAR review ruled out the goal for offside.
Celtic responded by helping themselves to a sixth goal in added time. They played their way calmly through the Dee defence until Callum McGREGOR scored from 12 yards.
Dundee made three changes at half time. Aaron Donnelly, Josh Mulligan and Mo Sylla came on for Joe Shaughnessy, Jordan McGhee and Malachi Boateng. Luke McCowan moved to play at right wing back in the second half.
With the result long settled there was marginally less intensity about Celtic’s attacking early in the second half. Dundee held out until the 63rd minute. Yang pulled a low cross back from the byline and young substitute Daniel Kelly shot into the top corner from 16 yards.
Celtic looked like scoring with every attack as Dundee lacked any out ball, any way of relieving the pressure. Michael Mellon and Lyall Cameron replaced Amadou Bakayoko and Curtis Main.
The pattern of the game remained unchanged. Luis Palma hit the angle of bar and post with a curling shot.
Fin Robertson then picked up a second yellow card and was sent off. The 10 men stuck to their task and managed to prevent any further damage.
Finally, after 84 minutes the Dark Blues got a consolation goal. It might have been a goal of little importance, but it was neatly crafted and finely executed. A neat passing move ended with Aaron Donnelly crossing for Michael MELLON to thrash a fierce volley past Hart.
Dundee managed to hang on without further damage, although Carson made a good close range save from Kyogo.
Dundee were thrashed and struggled throughout to contain Celtic’s constant attacking tonight. In the first half the defence folded every few minutes in a 45 minutes that was one of the worst from the Dee in many years. The game was finished long before half time. The interminable second half was simply a matter of damage limitation. The scoreline tells everything about the game.
Celtic 4-3-3
Hart
Johnston, Carter-Vickers (Welsh 59), Scales, Taylor (Ralston 59)
O’Riley, Iwata, McGregor (Kelly at half time)
Yang (Palma 75), Idah (Kyogo 59), Maeda
Unused subs: Bain (gk), Kuhn, Bernardo, Vata.
Goals: Carter-Vickers (8), Idah (20), O’Riley (22), Maeda (30), Taylor (34), McGregor (45+6), Kelly (63).
Booked: Idah (foul on Lamie), Maeda (foul on Sylla).
Dundee FC 5-3-2
Carson
McGhee (Mulligan at half time), Portales, Shaughnessy (c) (Donnelly at half time), Lamie, Beck
Robertson, Boateng (Sylla at half time), McCowan
Bakayoko (Cameron 64), Main (Mellon 64)
Unused substitutes: McCracken (gk), Dodgson, Astley, Tiffoney.
Booked: Beck (foul on Yang), Robertson (fouls on Maeda and Johnston).
Sent off: Robertson (two yellows)
Referee: Matthew MacDermid. Assistants: Sean Carr, Graham McNeillie. Fourth Official: Ross Hardie. VAR: Euan Anderson. Assistant VAR: Frank Connor.
Attendance: 58,772.
Report: James Christie.
