Dundee came agonisingly close to knocking Celtic out of the Scottish Cup in Glasgow tonight but sadly went down to a 2-1 defeat. Ethan Hamilton put the Dark Blues ahead with a wonderful goal early in the second half. Celtic looked a beaten side, but Junior Adamu flicked in an equaliser with the final kick of normal time. Sebastian Tounekti scored the winner at the start of extra time and Celtic hung on to reach the quarter finals of the cup.
Dundee fielded an unchanged line-up following last week’s draw at St Mirren. Scott Wright was the only one of the three new signings to take a place on the bench.
The Dark Blues started positively and did almost all the attacking in the first five minutes. Celtic then threatened briefly to click into a high gear, moving and passing quickly to find space.
Jon McCracken had to race out of the penalty area to block Joel Mvuka. Reo Hatate hit a dangerous low cross into the goalmouth but the Dee defence scrambled the ball away.
However, Dundee quickly got a grip and the Celtic storm fizzled out. The Dee midfield and defence handled Celtic’s attacking well throughout. The Dark Blue defence forced Celtic to try optimistic shots from distance in rest of the first half. McCracken had to make a few saves, but all were routine except for a curler from Hatate which he pushed away.
On the ball Dundee moved forward well, building patiently from the back and bringing the wide players into the game. Cameron Congreve hit a tricky cross from the right that Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo fumbled. Both he and Tony Yogane gave Celtic problems whenever they got the ball.
Dundee came closest to opening the scoring late in the first half when Luke Graham met a Congreve corner with a volley. He didn’t connect cleanly and despite Ryan Astley’s lunge he was a fraction of an inch away from heading home from close range before the ball drifted past the post.
Celtic made two changes at half time, sending on Benjamin Nygren and James Forrest for Paulo Bernardo and Joel Mvuka. Before the newcomers had any chance to make an impression Dundee took the lead with a magnificent goal after 49 minutes.
The Dark Blues broke forward and Congreve sucked in Celtic players as he drove in from the wing. He was stopped but the ball broke for Ethan HAMILTON to surge past Callum McGregor and rocket a blistering 20 yard shot across Sinisalo into the top corner. Fantastic! How the travelling Dees loved that!
Celtic responded by putting Dundee under pressure. However, apart from Yang stabbing a shot narrowly wide from Kieran Tierney’s cross and then a good save by McCracken from Tierney’s cross shot the home side failed to create clear chances. Time and again in the last half hour of normal time Celtic attacks ground to a halt with Dee defenders tackling and blocking every time the ball reached the final third.
Dundee came close to a decisive second goal in the 76th minute. Substitute Scott Wright had come on for Simon Murray and he cut a low cross back from the byline. The ball was only half cleared and Yogane’s shot took a deflection that beat Sinisalo but Tierney cleared off the line.
The Celtic pressure continued but the Dark Blues stood strong. Celtic struggled to break down the Dee and as the five minutes of added time wound down Dundee looked fully capable of holding out for a memorable win.
In the second minute of added time at the end of injury time, in Celtic’s final attack, Sebastian Tounekti ran to the byline and his low cross was backheeled past McCracken by Junior ADAMU. That was the last kick of regulation time and the final whistle blew as soon as Dundee kicked off.
The late, late equaliser was a sickener and Dundee were caught out at the start of extra time when Celtic scored the winner. TOUNEKTI played a neat one-two on the left and ran on to smash his shot past McCracken.
Benjamin Nygren could have added a third a few minutes later, but McCracken saved well with his foot.
Dundee then picked themselves up and held out well for the remainder of the game and always looked capable of snatching the equaliser they would have deserved.
In the final few minutes of extra time Celtic were forced into time-wasting and professional fouls to protect their lead.
Dark Blue players sank to their knees in disappointment and frustration at the final whistle, but they picked themselves up to take the deserved ovation from the terrific Dark Blue support. The Dees in the stand had been wonderful throughout and outsang the home supporters for most of the match.
This could have been a historic win for the Dee, but supporters should be proud of this Dundee performance. It was an excellent team performance and every single player excelled. Amongst a team of heroes Ethan Hamilton stood out. His drive, composure on the ball, and passing were all outstanding, and that goal was superbly memorable. This game showed how Steven Pressley’s team has grown over the season. Celtic will be hugely relieved to survice tonight, and to escape a cup exit by the skin of their teeth against a Dundee team who gave so much for the cause.
Celtic 4-3-3
Sinisalo
Araujo (Donovan 105), Trusty, Scales, Tierney (Saracchi 90+1)
Bernardo (Forrest at half time), McGregor, Hatate (McCowan 70)
Yang (Tounekti 70), Cvancara (Adamu 79) Mvuka (Nygren at half time)
Unused subs: O’Doohan (gk), Murray.
Goals: Adamu (90+7), Tounekti (92).
Booked: Araujo (foul on Yogane), Scales, Donovan (foul on Reilly), Forrest (time-wasting).
Dundee 4-1-4-1
Jon McCracken
Brad Halliday, Ryan Astley, Luke Graham (Ethan Ingram 109), Drey Wright (Imari Samuels 93)
Ethan Hamilton
Cameron Congreve (Charlie Reilly 93), Yan Dhanda (Joe Bevan 105), Joel Cotterill (Callum Jones 71), Tony Yogane (Fin Robertson 80)
Simon Murray (c) (Scott Wright 71)
Unused substitutes: Kieran O’Hara (gk), Paul Digby.
Booked: Dhanda (foul on Yang), Murray (foul on Tierney), Congreve (foul on Tierney), Astley (dissent).
Attendance: no figure available.
Referee: Ryan Lee. Assistants: David McGeachie, Douglas Ross. VAR: David Dickinson. Assistant VAR: Andrew Dallas.
Report: James Christie.
