TOMORROW night Celtic entertain St Mirren at Celtic Park. A year ago this midweek under the lights at Dens Park, Celtic travelled to face a Dundee side now under the management of Jim McIntyre after the very public sacking of their previous manager Neil McCann. It was McIntyre’s third game in charge and by the end of the encounter he’d overseen his new charges lose twelve goals and score none. It was a sign of a lethargy at Dens Park that would ultimately lead to relegation from The Scottish Premiership.
The game itself saw Brendan Rodgers, in pursuit of a third straight domestic treble, oversee his 100th competitive victory as Celtic boss, as the Celts looked to close down on a four point deficit at the top of the league.
Celtic lined up: Craig Gordon, Mikael Lustig, Filip Benkovic, Dedryck Boyata, Kieran Tierney, James Forrest, Callum McGregor, Tom Rogic, Scotty Sinclair, Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard.
Celtic had this encounter done and dusted by half time. In a 5-0 victory, four of those goals were scored in a brilliant first half performance.
Tom Rogic opened the scoring receiving a weighted through ball from Callum McGregor before curling a beautiful left footed finish into the keepers top left corner. His celebration was muted but it was a piece of brilliance.
Celtic then had a claim for a penalty when O’Dea handled a Lustig shot following a knockdown from Ryan Christie’s deep left wing cross. It wasn’t a penalty but a few moments later Celtic were awarded one and it led to a staggered run up penalty from Scott Sinclair to make it 2-0.
Rogic was the creator this time with a chipped ball into the path of the overlapping Lustig. Dundee’s Inniss was caught unawares and was beaten to the ball by Lustig. The Dees centre half then brought down Celtic’s right back. This was a tough call to make but be fair to the referee Alan Muir, he didn’t hesitate in the award.
More joy arrived for Celtic when the constant attacking of Dundee’s right side of defence led to a fine 3rd goal.
McGregor popped off a lovely left foot dink from the centre circle to a powerfully running Kieran Tierney, his cross to the front post was met on the fall by James Forrest who turned his right foot effort away from the keeper into Jack Hamilton’s left hand corner. It was a brilliant free flowing goal and pretty much finished the encounter as a genuine contest.
The 4th before half time was scored by Edouard right on half time. Forrest ran at the centre of the Dundee defence having passed to Sinclair in a quick 1-2, Jamesy then fed Kieran Tierney. Tierney once again attacked the right side of defence and cut the ball back in return to Forrest. This time Forrest picked out the goal hanging Edouard plumb on the six yard line and the big Frenchman had a simple tap in to send Celtic in at the break with an unassailable 4-0 lead.
The fifth and final goal arrived three minutes into the second half. Tierney took a heavy knock in the build-up but managed to get the ball off to Edouard. French Eddy played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Ryan Christie and his left foot finish was as good as you’d see from any striker never mind from a midfielder on Celtic books. It was simply gorgeous.
Celtic let up a little as you’d expect. A team down 5-0 is likely to be frustrated and self-preservation took over.
Unfortunately you can’t cover all risk. Substitute Daniel Arzani gave a fine pass across the face of goal in search of a sixth goal that Kieran Tierney couldn’t quite take advantage of.
Sadly the Australian loan signing from Man City succumbed to an injury during his brief debut. He’d looked the real deal and it was a real shame to see such a positive introduction lead to the winger leaving the pitch on a stretcher.
Thankfully the lad is now back training and in contention for some top team involvement now, but the fact he hasn’t played first team football is an indication of just how serious the knee injury he picked up was.
The unfortunate incident perhaps took the gloss off a fine result but Celtic were simply wonderful in the opening half in particular.
5-0 in no way flattered Celtic. They were simply far too good in every department for Dundee on the night.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: “Our technical level in the game was very high. Good movement, good combination play, and scored some wonderful goals.
“It’s about getting back to how we know we can play, and we’re starting to see that now. The creativity, the scoring of goals, but also not conceding any. The level of our game is definitely improving.”
The Celtic Star reported on the night of the game. You can read that report back here.
And Celtic’s performance so impressed David Potter he could only find the words of Shakespeare to do it justice. You can read David’s take on the game here.
You can also view below the highlights and marvel at the team performance a year ago at Dens Park.
Niall J
Niall J
