Leaders Celtic ease to victory over stubborn Dundee

Last updated on .From the section Scottish Premiership

Celtic moved two points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after eventually overwhelming stubborn visitors Dundee.

Kyogo Furuhashi headed the second and set up Matt O'Riley for a neat finish as the visitors were left to rue a golden opportunity to open the scoring during a goalless first half.

Celtic had goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank for a point-blank save that denied Luke McCowan during 45 minutes Brendan Rodgers' side otherwise dominated.
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Celtic, though, could have been ahead by that time.

Trevor Carson did not know much about it as the goalkeeper beat away Daizen Maeda's prodded volley with his chest, O'Riley fired off the face of a post and Maeda was thwarted by an offside flag after finding the far corner.

Then came Dundee's big moment when Owen Beck cut the ball to unmarked midfielder McCowan and striker Luke Robinson made a mess of his chance on the rebound off Hart.

The visitors' resistance was finally broken when Ryan Howley, in the 19-year-old midfielder's first start on loan from Coventry City, challenged Turnbull on the edge of the penalty box and a VAR check ruled it had been inside.

With the shackles off, Celtic suddenly found the fluency that had been lacking as clinical finishes from Kyogo and O'Riley secured the three points.

Dundee will, though, wonder how they failed to secure a consolation goal as on-loan Forest Green Rovers striker Amadou Bakayoko skied McCowan's cut-back over the crossbar from eight yards.

Home manager Rodgers will be pleased that his side managed to build on their Old Firm victory last time out.

After a goalless first half, it looked like Dundee might repeat St Johnstone's feat in Celtic's last home game by escaping with a draw.

However, once Turnbull broke the deadlock, Rodgers' side visibly relaxed and will go into Tuesday's Champions League opener against Feyenoord feeling good about themselves.

There was a concern when Kyogo went off with what looked like a recurrence of a shoulder injury in the first half, but the striker returned to rediscover his threat with a goal and assist.

Japan team-mate Reo Hatate also returned off the bench and the midfielder immediately showed his class as Celtic suddenly looked a more potent force.

On-loan Liverpool centre-half Nat Phillips only lasted 45 minutes of his debut, but Rodgers reported it was only as a precaution after a first-half ankle knock.

Dundee manager Tony Docherty said before kick off that he had learned from previous Premiership sides who had recently frustrated Celtic in Glasgow.

A couple of changes to his starting line-up confirmed a more conservative approach and, bar McCowan's first-half chance, the visitors never looked like recording their first first win over Celtic in 40 meetings since a 2-0 success in May 2001.

What they said

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "I thought we played well in the first half without scoring, but give credit to Dundee, they worked very hard defensively and sometimes you have to tire out the opposition and then I thought in the second half we found more spaces and looked good and threatening and took our goals well.

"There was a much greater fluency and things were connecting much better. It is a game of patience and the players did that very well."

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "There are a lot of aspects I was pleased with the performance. In the first half, we executed the game plan really well and probably had the best opportunity of the first half.

"I am really disappointed with the penalty decision. I thought it was really soft. I've looked back at it a few times myself and I think it was a really harsh decision against us and that first goal is a really important one."

Celtic visit Feyenoord in their Champions league group opener on Tuesday (20:00 BST) before a trip to Livingston on Saturday (12:30) before Dundee host Kilmarnock (15:00).