Dundee came agonisingly close to pulling off a memorable win against Celtic but had to settle for a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Scot-Foam Stadium tonight. Celtic went ahead with an early goal from ex-Dee favourite Luke McCowan but Seun Adewumi scored a sublime equaliser shortly before half time. After Yang Hyun-Jun restored Celtic’s lead at the start of the second half Josh Mulligan forced an equalising own goal by Cameron Carter-Vickers within a minute. Aaron Donnelly’s header from a corner put the Dark Blues into the lead for the first time, only for Arne Engels’ penalty in added time to rescue Celtic. It might have been only a single point for the Dark Blues, but they took massive credit from this performance.
Dundee made one change from the draw against Rangers. Fin Robertson returned from injury and took the place of Scott Tiffoney, who switched to the bench. After missing last week’s game through illness Lyall Cameron was named as a substitute, as was new signing Imari Samuels.
The Dark Blues started positively spending the first few minutes attacking Celtic. That might have encouraged some optimism, but the visitors quickly asserted their quality. In the fifth minute Greg Taylor flight a fine cross from the left beyond the far post and Luke McCOWAN ghosted in to score with a firm header across Trevor Carson.
Celtic remained on top and continually threatened to add to their lead. Adam Idah should maybe have done better with a promising low cross from Yang Hyun-Jun but, distracted by the onrushing Carson, he missed the ball.
Paulo Bernardo hit the top of the crossbar with a free header from a cross by Alistair Johnston as Celtic continued to dominate.
Aside from those chances, and the goal, Dundee kept their shape and frustrated Celtic. It was important to stay in the game until a chance emerged. That finally happened three minutes from half time.
The Dee broke quickly from a Celtic corner. Simon Murray tried to send Seun Adewumi clear but his pass was blocked. Fin Robertson picked up the ball and sent a sweet pass through to put Adewumi one on one against Johnston. ADEWUMI picked his moment and from 18 yards his superb shot curled round Johnston and keeper Schmeichel to shave the post on its way into the net.
Celtic stepped up the pace and intensity of their game after half time and Clark Robertson made an important block from Bernardo’s shot.
Celtic’s second goal came after 53 minutes and it was disappointingly scrappy. Clark Roberson and Trevor Carson both went for Kyogo’s dangerous low cross but neither could got a clean touch. The ball sprang up and YANG was first to react, nodding the ball into the empty net.
The Dark Blues stunned the Celtic support and thrilled the Dees in the stands by responding with an instant equaliser. Simoin Murray contested a 50-50 ball with Auston Trusty and bullied the Celtic defender out of the game. Josh Mulligan took over, ran for the byline, and sent in a hard and low cross that flicked off Cameron CARTER-VICKERS and past Schmeichel.
The Dee’s confidence soared and it was their turn to put the Celtic defence under real presure. Adewumi flashed a 22 yard shot narrowly past. Ethan Ingram’s header flew just past the post with Schmeichel rooted to the goalline. Fin Robertson wasn’t far away with a free kick from 25 yards.
Inevitably Celtic pulled themselves together and the Dundee defence had to be at their best to keep them at bay. Carson made three close range saves in quick succession after a shot was blocked, but the linesman’s flag went up anyway to indicate that a Celtic player was offside right at the start of the drama.
Dundee remained solid and composed at the back, and always looked capable of grabbing a third goal when they could get at Celtic’s defence.
Dee took a sensational lead after 78 minutes. Fin Robertson flighted a corner over a packed goalmouth to the far post and Aaron DONNELLY rose above Trosty to crash his header home.
Celtic had already used all their substitutions before Dundee had sent on their first sub. Seb Palmer-Houlden now replaced Simon Murray, who had put in his usual selfless shift, and then Lyall Cameron and Scott Tiffoney came on for Cesar Garza and Fin Robertson.
A minute into the four minutes of added time Mo Sylla stopped an attempted Celtic break from inside their own penalty area and hammered a shot from 16 yards just over the bar. If only, if only that had gone in, because Celtic went straight up the park to win a match-saving penalty.
It’s traditional to moan about the Old Firm being given cheap late penalties. But in truth there was little to complain about this time. Sylla threw himself at the shot from substitute Nicolas Kühn and the ball struck his arm. These are always easy decisions for referees and if Don Robertson had somehow missed this one VAR would have kept him right, however much it pains me to say so.
Arne ENGELS sent Carson the wrong way from the spot and both teams had a point.
A draw was a fair outcome, but it was frustrating to come so close to a momentous win and not quite get over the line. It was a wonderful, battling team performance. The players executed the game plan perfectly and in the second half they were a constant menace to a Celtic defence that had conceded only eight goals in 22 league games before tonight.
Adewumi’s goal was a joy to behold and it transformed the game, giving the Dark Blues real belief that they could do more than simply hang on and hope, somehow, to survive. The second half goals were hardly classics, but they were the result of Dee players doing the right things, and doing them well. Murray created an opening by bullying a defender. Mulligan drove into a dangerous position and made his own luck. Fin Robertson delivered a perfect corner, and Donnelly won his battle at the far post to score.
That was the story of the Dee’s performance all night long. The players all through the team did their jobs and performed to the best of their abilities. Just like last week against Rangers everyone stuck together and put in an excellent team performance against the best side, by some distance, in Scotland. Well done lads! It wasn’t the win we all felt you’d earned, but we’re still proud of you for what you did.
Dundee FC 3-5-1-1
Carson (c)
Astley, Clark Robertson, Donnelly
Mulligan, Sylla, Garza (Tiffoney 86), Fin Robertson (Cameron 86), Ingram
Adewumi
Murray (Palmer-Houlden 81)
Unused subs: McCracken (gk), Sharp (gk), Graham, Main, Samuels, Vetro.
Goals: Adewumi (41), Carter-Vickers og (54), Donnelly (78).
Booked: Ingram (foul on Johnston), Murray (dissent).
Celtic 4-1-4-1
Schmeichel
Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor (Valle 70)
McGregor (c)
Furuhashi, Bernardo (Engels 61), McCowan (Hatate 61), Yang (Palma 70)
Idah (Kühn 61)
Unused subs: Sinisalo (gk), Scales, Kenny, Ralston.
Goals: McCowan (5), Yang (53), Engels pen (90+3).
Booked: Bernardo (foul on Sylla).
Referee: Don Robertson. Assistants: Gordon Crawford, Alastair Mather. VAR: Andrew Dallas. Assistant VAR: Andrew McWilliam.
Attendance: 8,816.
Report: James Christie.
