Celtic 5
Dundee 0
League (Premiership)

Match Report

Dundee went down to a heavy defeat by league leaders Celtic at Parkhead tonight. The title favourites put in a performance worthy of champions to hit five goals past the beleaguered Dark Blues without reply. Leigh Griffiths and Scott Brown scored in the first half. Kris Commons, James Forrest and Nir Bitton completed the scoring after the break.

Paul Hartley made four changes from the St Johnstone match. Simon Ferry, Alex Harris, Stephen McGinn and Luka Tankulic came in for Paul Heffernan and David Clarkson, who were on the bench, Greg Stewart, who was suspended, and Paul McGowan, who was watching at home.

Celtic went straight into powerful, smooth cruise control from the kick off. Moving the ball around slickly they pressed the Dark Blues back deep into their own half for long spells of the first half.

Dundee had to concentrate hard to keep Celtic at bay as the hosts passed the ball around the outskirts of the penalty area. The first moment of danger came after four minutes when an incisive move freed Scott Brown to slide the ball across goal and wide. A momentary loss of concentration then allowed Leigh Griffiths space to fire a shot wide from a tricky angle.

The Dark Blues struggled to keep possession when they came forward. It took 10 minutes to launch a serious attack, only for Virgil van Dijk to break it up. Celtic went straight up the park and Johansen scooped a good chance high and wide.

After surviving the early siege Dundee then had a period when they managed to put a few moves together, although without ever troubling Craig Gordon in the Celtic goal. The Hoops irritated their supporters with some careless passing. That made life a little easier for the Dee midway through the half, but Celtic soon snapped out of it and had the Dee back under serious pressure.

Thomas Konrad made a great tackle to rob Griffiths as the ex-Dee was about to burst clear. Celtic has a reasonable claim for a penalty when Kevin Thomson lost the ball in the penalty area and then got tangled up with Johansen as he tried to recover.

It was no surprise when Celtic took the lead after 30 minutes, though it was their first effort on target. Izaguirre's deep cross from the left was met by Leigh GRIFFITHS who climbed superbly to crash home a header from 12 yards.

The opening goal only helped Celtic to exert greater dominance of the game. They added a second after 37 minutes when Griffiths and Commons combined to set BROWN up to run in and score.

With two goals in the bag for Celtic it looked very much like the game was well out of Dundee's reach, and the Dark Blues were happy to reach half time without conceding again.

If the Dark Blues had been a tad passive during the first half there was more assertiveness on display early in the second half. Dundee competed effectively during that period and had a few good moves. However, it was a measure of Celtic's quality that Dundee had to play very good football to get anywhere near Craig Gordon's penalty area. The impressive central defensive pairing of van Dijk and Denayer were always able to deal comfortably with the best that Dundee could offer, and Gordon had to cope only with two weak long range shots in the whole match.

In midfield Brown and Nir Bitton had a vice like grip on proceedings, making it exceptionally difficult for Dundee to move into the Celtic half. In attack Johansen, Commons and Griffiths were always probing and a third goal became increasingly likely. Dundee were spared again and again as dangerous Celtic attacks ended with wayward shots as the pressure built up on Scott Bain's goal.

Dundee held out till the 71st minute, when Stephen McGinn ended a Celtic move by pushing over substitute Darnell Fisher in the penalty area. Kris COMMONS slammed the penalty home, and the Dark Blues were facing a long final 20 minutes.

The Dark Blues did put together a good attack, only to be punished by Celtic adding a fourth on the break. Commons send James FORREST through the middle, and he held off Willie Dyer to shoot past Bain.

The final goal was the best of the night when BITTON collected the ball 30 yards from goal, looked up and curled a marvellous shot into the top corner.

18 year old Calvin Colquhoun came on for his debut, playing the last half hour wide on the right. It was a tough task for the youngster in a game when his more experienced team mates were struggling, but he had a few good touches.

Paul Heffernan replaced Simon Ferry, but he picked up a knock and had to be substituted by David Clarkson right at the end.

There weren't many positives for Dundee on a night when they were well beaten by a very good team. Luka Tankulic stuck to his task manfully, and made sure that van Dijk couldn't relax. The German striker should good control, strength and perseverance, and would surely have had a more fruitful night against a weaker team.

The midfield did look good on the ball at times, but was outplayed for nearly all the match. Crucially, they couldn't do enough to protect the Dee's defence and keep the attacking hordes at bay. Celtic will almost certainly be champions, and will deserve the title. Tonight they showed the true quality required of champions, and it was far too good for the Dark Blues.

Match report written by James Christie - Official Dundee website