Dundee 1 – 2 Celtic
Kelechi Iheanacho was Celtic’s hero when he came off the bench to keep their Premiership title hopes alive with a late winner at Dundee.
Martin O’Neill knew his side needed all three points to stay in the chase at Dennis Park, and Hyun-Jun Yang sent them on their way with an early opener.
They should have extended their lead when Tomas Kavankara missed two brilliant chances before Simon Murray pulled the hosts level following Colby Donovan’s handball.
Iheanacho replaced the on-loan forward and celebrated wildly when he headed Marcelo Sarachi’s cross into the net.
Dundee, who beat the Hoops at home earlier this season, suffered a second blow with Ryan Astley sent off for a late challenge on Yang.
The win moves Celtic to within three points of Hearts after their draw at Livingston. Rangers are second, one point off the summit.
Hoops over hoodoo
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Yang opened the scoring after eight minutes by getting a light touch on Benjamin Negrin’s close-range shot and they should have been ahead before half-time, Kevankara making a waste in front of goal.
And that wastefulness came back to bite them after the break.
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Video assistant referee (VAR) Matthew McDermid saw a handball from full-back Colby Donovan and referee Steven McLean pointed to the spot after going on the pitch-side monitor.
Home captain Murray calmly converted to level the scores and Celtic took their time to regain their momentum.
However, with time running out, substitute Iheanacho sealed all three points with a left-footed shot past goalkeeper John McCracken.
Dundee were then reduced to 10 men as centre-back Ryan Astley was dismissed for taking out Yang.
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O’Neill: We’re still fighting.
Celtic Boss Martin O’Neill Talking to Sky Sports:
“We should have been out of sight in the first half.
“We missed a lot of chances. I always felt it could really come back to haunt us. Dundee had the advantage of the wind in the second half, whatever the particular slope, down.
“But for us, conceding the penalty, we could just say, ‘OK, it’s not going to be our day’. We fought back. It was great for us to win that game.
“It keeps us there, we’re still fighting.
“For us to win today, it was a really big achievement and it keeps us in it.
“Naturally, I’m happy for the crowd. The crowd was fantastic all afternoon. They pushed us along honestly.
“Six games to go, three points between the top three.”
