Two goals midway through the second half consigned Dundee to a 2-0 defeat away to Celtic. The Dee defended well to frustrate the defending champions for the first hour, with some fine saves by Jon McCracken. However, substitute Alistair Johnston broke the deadlock in the 60th minute. Arne Engels added a second from the penalty spot seven minutes later and there was no way back for the Dark Blues.
Dundee made three changes from Saturday’s line-up. Jon McCracken replaced the injured Trevor Carson in goal. Antonio Portales came into central defence and Josh Mulligan into midfield with Billy Koumetio and Curtis Main named on the bench.
The Dark Blues forced Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel into a fine save in the first minute. Fin Robertson’s free kick from the right was nodded down by Clark Robertson and Antonio Portales’s shot was kept out at full stretch by Schmeichel.
Jon McCracken had to be equally alert three minutes later when Kyogo nipped onto a pass over the top of the Dee defence. He chested the ball down and shot quickly but McCracken stuck out a foot to save.
After only three more minutes Kyogo passed up another chance, an easier one this time. The Dee defence hesitated for once and the Japanese striker helped himself only to shoot weakly wide from 10 yards with only McCracken to beat.
After those early flashes of excitement the game settled into a pattern of Celtic dominating possession and passing their way around in the Dark Blues’ half without troubling McCracken who wasn’t called upon to make any more saves in the first half.
Celtic did get two fleeting shooting opportunities but each time Portales reacted quickly to block, first from Arne Engels and then from Kyogo. Otherwise the only scare before half time was when Luis Palma dinked an inviting cross to the far post but Yang, under pressure, couldn’t connect properly and the ball flew well wide.
McCracken had to make only one save in the first half but he was called on to make three in the first five minutes after the restart. He touched away a curley by Palma from 22 yards. That was almost routine for a top keeper, but the double save from after 50 minutes was top drawer goalkeeping. First McCracken reacted superbly to keep out Palma’s volley and then recovered quickly enough to block Kyago’s close range follow up.
After 56 minutes Celtic made three substitutions, and they were very far from being second string replacements. Alistair Johnston, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate came on and the changes gave Celtic the edge they needed to go on and win comfortably.
The opening goal took only four more minutes to arrive. Yang’s low cross from the right took a deflection and JOHNSTON nipped in at the near post to get the slightest of touches that sent the ball past McCracken.
The second goal came seven minutes later. Dundee had mounted a rare foray forward and the counter attack caught out the Dark Blues. Portales took a heavy touch as he tried to intercept a pass to Kyogo, lost the ball and then pulled the striker down. Arne ENGELS sent the penalty kick down the middle.
The second goal killed the game as a contest and as a spectacle. The pace dropped and Celtic were happy enough to pass the ball around without busting a gut to score more. Dundee defended competently in the last 25 minutes but offered no threat up front as the game drifted to a conclusion. Maeda headed over in injury time, but apart from that the home fans who bailed out early missed nothing.
The Dark Blues kept their concentration and defensive shape, forcing Celtic to work for the points. The defence coped well for the most part, but could have done better at the goals. The midfield worked hard to frustrate Celtic but were never given a chance to do anything on the ball. Simon Murray and then Seb Palmer-Houlden had to run and graft with hardly a touch of the ball.
The Dee’s record against Celtic is poor and they’ve had plenty of more painful visits to Celtic Park. This was one of the more forgettable and less eventful ones. Perhaps the greatest value Dundee can take from the game is the added experience it gives some of the younger players.
Celtic 4-3-3
Schmeichel
Ralston (Johnson 56), Carter-Vickers (Scales 75), Trusty, Taylor
McCowan, Engels, Bernardo (Hatate 56)
Yang (Forrest 62), Palma (Maeda 56), Kyogo
Unused subs: Sinisalo (gk), Turley, Welsh, Valle.
Goals: Johnston (60), Engels (67 pen).
Booked: Taylor (foul on Murray).
Dundee FC 5-4-1
McCracken
Ingram, Astley, Clark Robertson, Portales, Larkeche
Cameron (Braybrooke 85), Sylla, Mulligan, Fin Robertson
Murray (c) (Palmer-Houlden 68)
Unused substitutes: Sharp (gk), Adewumi, Koumetio, McGhee, Main, Vetro.
Booked: McCracken (time-wasting), Sylla (kicking ball away), Portales (foul on Kyogo), Mulligan (foul on McCowan).
Referee: Ross Hardie. Assistants: Graeme Stewart, Paul McAvinue. VAR: Matthew MacDermid. Assistant VAR: Andrew McWilliam.
Attendance: 58,751.
Report: James Christie.
