8th placed Dundee F.C. hosted Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic F.C. this afternoon at Dens Park in a Scottish Premiership encounter. The Hoops were 22 points ahead of second-placed Aberdeen and needed only six more points to secure their sixth league title on the trot. However, the trip to Dundee F.C. produced a narrow win for the visitors who snatched a 1-2 win against the Dees and Celtic are now only one victory away from lifting the silverware.
Below are the Celtic players rated from the fixture.
Craig Gordon: 6
The custodian mostly remained untested and could have done little to prevent Faissal El Bakhtaoui’s 25-yard strike into the top corner.
Mikael Lustig: 7.5
An outstanding display from the fullback as he kept on overlapping from the right-hand flank and whipped in sublime crosses for Dembele, Sinclair and Armstrong. He combined well with Forrest and terrorised the Dees back-line with his runs.
Dedryck Boyata: 7
Posed physical and aerial threat in Dundee’s box from set-pieces and his effort was cleared off the line seconds before Jozo Simunovic’s opener in added time of first half. Although Marcus Haber hit it wide, he shouldn’t have allowed the Dundee forward space inside the box during the second half. Other than that, he was solid with his tackling and positioning otherwise.
Callum McGregor: 6.5
Started in place of Nir Bitton in midfield to make his 100th appearance for the club. Made some decent runs to link up with attackers and partnered well with skipper Scott Brown in the middle of the pitch. Was replaced by Kouassi in the midway of the second half.
Scott Brown: 7.5
The skipper did well to hold possession and build up movements from midfield. Did well to break down Dundee’s counter threats.
James Forrest: 7
The Scottish winger had an impressive afternoon as he kept on pressing up front. His perfectly placed delivery down the right was headed home by Armstrong to double the lead. Was replaced by Patrick Roberts for remaining 20 minutes.
Stuart Armstrong: 7.5
After his thunderous strike against Rangers, the Scottish midfielder marked his name in the scoresheet once again as he headed home from Forrest’s down the right delivery. Drilled through the Dundee defence on quite a few occasions as he troubled them with his pace, footwork and trickery.
Scott Sinclair: 7
Sinclair terrorised the Dundee defence from the left-hand flank and was fouled repeatedly. He troubled the Dees with his skills, dribbling as well as cut-ins. Whipped in a few decent balls into the box for Dembele who failed to convert. Was replaced by Erik Sviatchenko towards the end.
Moussa Dembélé: 6
The highly rated youngster had a few half chances to convert but failed to capitalise. Linked up well with fellow attackers and played a few smart one-twos.
Substitutes
Eboue Kouassi: 5.5
The midfielder was cautioned minutes after entering the pitch. Partnered well with Brown.
Patrick Roberts: 6
Came in place of Forrest and impressed with his speed and skills.
