WITH so much of focus on the Aberdeen game against Rangers at Pittodrie during the build up to the midweek William Hill Premiership fixtures, few in Scottish football had entertained the possibility that Celtic could slip up against Dundee at Parkhead tonight.
Brendan Rodgers’ men went into the match looking to extend their nine match unbeaten run in the league and maintain or possibly even increase their slender advantage over Jimmy Thelin’s charges and they duly got the win they wanted.
But their opponents, who were just three points off bottom spot and who had last recorded a result against their hosts six-and-a-half years earlier, gave their feted hosts quite a scare.
It took an Alistair Johnston strike and an Arne Engels penalty after half-time to calm the nerves of the home supporters and ensure a much-changed side wrapped up another three points.
The hard-fought triumph saw Celtic stay at the top of the table. But they will have to do far better to overcome Aberdeen in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday evening. Here are five talking points from the encounter.
Risky strategy
Rodgers performed major surgery on his Celtic starting line-up and made no fewer than six changes to the side which had taken to the field against Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday.
Out went Johnston, Liam Scales, Alex Valle, Reo Hatate, James Forrest and Daizen Maeda and in came Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Greg Taylor, Engels, Luis Palma and Yang Hyun-jun.
With skipper Callum McGregor still absent from the squad due to an abductor issue and Luke McCowan deputising in central midfield, it was something of a gamble even if the visitors had won just one of their previous seven outings.
Unfortunately for Rodgers, the operation was far from a success. The display which the new-look team produced underlined that, despite the strength and depth which he has at his disposal, he can ill afford to tinker too much this term.
The Northern Irishman made a triple substitution after just 10 minutes of the second half. He took off Ralston, Paulo Bernardo and Palma and put on Johnston, Hatate and Maeda respectively. Yang then made way for Forrest. Celtic were far livelier with the replacements on the park.
Winging it
This was a big opportunity for Palma, who was making his first Premiership start of the season, and Yang, who was making his first start period, to show their manager what they can contribute to the Celtic cause.
Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn are firmly established in the first team and there is little chance of either of them being displaced any time soon. But with Premiership, Premier Sports Cup, Champions League and Scottish Cup games coming thick and fast in the coming weeks, there will be times when they need to step up.
Both Palma and Yang had their work cut out breaking down opponents who sat back in numbers when they were without the ball and defended well. But neither man could be faulted for effort.
The former was unfortunate not to break the deadlock with a curling effort from just outside the Dundee area and Yang had a hand in the opening goal. But both looked a little rusty. They will have to raise their games to feature regularly in future.
Out-of-sorts striker
Rodgers expressed confidence that Adam Idah, who was missing from the squad as a result of the ankle injury he suffered in the 3-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday, would be available to face Aberdeen this weekend along with McGregor and Kuhn when he spoke to BBC Scotland before the match got underway.
Could the Republic of Ireland internationalist find himself starting if he recovers from the knock on time? Furuhashi squandered two excellent chances to break the deadlock during the early exchanges and the Dundee rearguard grew visibly in confidence as a consequence of his profligate finishing.
Johnston is having few difficulties finding the back of the net. The right-back, who was on target just twice in his first two seasons in this country, took his tally for the 2024/25 campaign to four when he slid in and diverted a deflected Yang pass into the net from close range.
The defender picked up the Man of the Match award despite only being on the park for 35 minutes.
Engels was coolness personified as he converted the spot kick which referee Ross Hardie awarded after Antonio Portales had pulled down Furuhashi. But the £11m man, too, was not quite at his brilliant best.
Dundee determination
The Dens Park club have struggled to adapt to life without McCowan since their captain departed in the final hours of the summer transfer window back in August and went into this match desperately needing a on the back of a disappointing run of form.
They made a positive start when Portales forced Kasper Schmeichel to push his shot wide at full stretch and were buoyed when McCracken, who took over in goals from the injured Trevor Carson, denied Furuhashi with his outstretched leg after the forward had chested down a Ralston chip.
McCracken produced outstanding saves from first Palma and then Furuhashi early in the second half to keep his team in it. He will keep his place in the Scotland squad for the Nations League games against Croatia and Poland on this form.
Callaghan remembered
The was minute’s applause in honour of Tommy Callaghan, the former Dunfermline and Celtic midfielder who passed away at the age of 78 last week, before kick-off.
Callaghan, a lifelong supporter of the Parkhead club and the only footballer who Jock Stein ever signed twice, won the League Cup twice, the Scottish title six times and the Scottish Cup on three occasions during the eight years that he plied his trade in the East End of Glasgow in the 1960s and 1970s.
Big “Tid”, as he was known, was a regular visitor to his old club after he had hung up his boots and would have been delighted with a result which kept the defending champions firmly on course for more silverware.
