Dundee 1-2 Celtic: Super-sub Iheanacho keeps Celtic title hopes alive
Dundee 1-2 Celtic: Super-sub Iheanacho keeps Celtic title hopes alive Celtic scored late on to take all three points against Dundee at Dens Park, keeping the pressure on rivals Rangers and Hearts as the Scottish Premiership title race heats up. Celtic took the lead early on through Yang Hyun-Jun as both he and Benjamin Nygren were on hand to convert the rebound following an effort from Tomáš Čvančara. The chances came and went for Celtic, and it looked as though they would be made to pay after Simon Murray scored a second half penalty to level the game.
Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho came up with the goods for the Celts, scoring a crucial goal to cut the gap between the top three in Scotland to just three points. As it happened The first opportunity of the afternoon fell to the visitors. Daizen Maeda did well down the left-hand side before firing a low cross across the face of the Dundee penalty area, but no one was there to tap home for Celtic.
But just a couple of minutes later, they did get the early goal they were desperate for. Kieran Tierney’s cross from the left was taken down well by Tomáš Čvančara, whose effort was saved by Jon McCracken. The ball then fell to Yang Hyun-Jun who lifted the ball over the Dundee goalkeeper, before a combination of himself and Benjamin Nygren bundled it over the line to put Celtic ahead at Dens Park.
Celtic came very close to a second after 20 minutes, but again no one could get on the end of a lovely low ball into the box, this time from Nygren. The Celtic pressure continued to build, with Nygren again at the heart of it. The Swede found himself in space before sliding a perfectly weighted pass in behind to Maeda, but the forward couldn’t get a clean strike away and it was a comfortable save for the Dundee shot stopper.
Another huge chance fell to the visitors on the half-hour mark, as Čvančara found himself clean through on goal after Maeda won the ball back high up the pitch, but his effort came back off the woodwork and Dundee were able to clear. The second half began in similar fashion as the first, with Čvančara again being put through one-on-one against the goalkeeper, but the Czech striker takes a really poor second touch which allows McCracken to come out and make the block. After a much better start to the second half from Dundee, they were awarded a penalty when Ryan Astley’s goal bound effort struck the arm of Colby Donovan.