Celtic 2
Dundee 0
League (Premier League)

Match Report

Dundee were beaten 2-0 away to Celtic last Saturday afternoon with the home side scoring either side of the break with goals that killed the game. Dundee were a well organised unit during the opening 45 minutes but with minutes remaining of the half Gary Hooper found the break through shortly after Rab Douglas had saved a Scott Brown penalty. After the break, Celtic hit quickly with Victor Wanyama drilling a shot off the inside of the post and in.

Barry Smith was forced into two changes from the side that ran League leaders Motherwell close the previous week at Dens. Lewis Toshney was unavailable due to being on loan from Celtic while injury meant Neil McGregor also missed out. Kyle Benedictus came in as a natural centre half but the inclusion of Steven Milne meant there was a reshuffle around the park.

lain Davidson moved back to join Benedictus in central defence and in midfield Ryan Conroy, Jim McAlister and Mark Kerr played a central role with Milne wide right and John Baird wide left with Colin Nish in a lone role through the centre. Trips to the homes of the Old Firm are never easy and Dundee set up their stall with the intention to change their 4-5-1 into a 4-3-3 as they moved forward with Milne and Baird as natural front men.

Current Champions Celtic enjoyed a lot of possession throughout the afternoon as expected and were the first to have an effort on goal. Gary Hooper curled over from edge of the box after only five minutes. It took Dundee ten minutes to really put an attack together and when they did there was a large penalty shout. Gary Irvine went down under the challenge of Emilio Izaquirre but referee John Beaton waved play on.

James Forrest had Celtic's next chance as his deflected shot flashed just wide of the post. Although the home side were the team in the ascendancy it was actually Dundee who had the first real chance of the match. Matt Lockwood played Ryan Conroy into space up the left and the ex-Celtic man had time to pick out Milne who laid the ball off to Nish. The big striker forced Fraser Forster into a save and when the ball fell to Baird he could not keep his shot down and the chance was gone.

Dundee continued to hold their position but the pressure did rise with Lassad Nouioui blasting over before Douglas did well to push away a Charlie Mulgrew free kick. It then looked like Celtic were certain to take the lead when Lockwood failed to clear and Forrest was gifted a golden opportunity but Douglas blocked and Irvine booted away from the line.

Half-time was getting closer and it seemed Dundee would be able to hold on when Nouioui nipped in front of Benedictus in the box and ref Beaton pointed to the spot. Scott Brown stepped up but another ex-Celt Douglas saved his second spot kick in a row, pushing the ball high and over the bar as the travelling support went wild.

Four minutes later though Celtic did find the breakthrough. Hooper looked sharp as he knocked the ball past Davidson before driving a low shot across Douglas and into the net. It was the worst time Dundee could have lost a goal, especially after holding on for so long.

The start of the second half saw Douglas called into action again when Irvine knocked the ball back towards goal and it almost sneaked in off the inside of the post but Douglas grabbed it on the line. If the first goal had come at a bad time, Celtic's second all but killed the game after only three minutes of the second period. Victor Wanyama drilled a shot home from the edge of the box and perfectly in off the inside of the post that left Douglas with no chance.

Kris Commons struck a shot across goal and wide as Celtic went in search of a third with Forrest next up with a shot from distance but was straight at Douglas, Dundee made two changes with Martin Boyle replacing Steven Milne, before John Baird was replaced by Nicky Riley, Fraser Forster didn't have much to do in the second half but Jim McAlister did make sure he was still alert with a shot from distance but the Celtic number one held with ease.

Gary Hooper cracked the post with a shipton Celtics next attack and defender Kelvin Wilson saw a header saved by Douglas before the match was brought to an end. Dundee had been expected to get nothing from the game and although being well organised lost two goals at vital

Match report written by Official Dundee website