Last-gasp penalty earns point for the Celts | OneFootball

Scottish Premiership

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

The Scot Foam Stadium, Dundee

DUNDEE…3

(Adewumi 41, Carter-Vickers og 54, Donnelly 78)

CELTIC…3

(McCowan 5, Yang 53, Engels 93)

The champions had to settle for a draw against Dundee at Dens Park tonight after a six goal thriller and a late equaliser from the spot from Arne Engels.

Only a few minutes in to the match, the hosts had an opportunity to take the lead when Aaron Donnelly built up to take a long throw in from the Celts’ right-hand side. The ball seemed to slip from Donnelly’s grasp as he made to throw it, which caught the Celtic defence out and gave Simon Murray a chance to score, but thankfully Kasper Schmeichel was on hand to prevent the goal.

But before the match was even five minutes old, the Celts had the lead. A deep ball in to the back post from Greg Taylor found the head of Luke McCowan, and, on his first return to Dens Park since leaving Dundee for the Hoops, McCowan cushioned a header towards the far corner, away from Trevor Carson and in to the back of the net.

In the 18th minute, the Celts had a massive chance to double the lead when Kyogo, who had burst up the right wing was picked out by Yang, who sent a perfectly weighted ball in his direction. Kyogo flashed the ball across the box towards Adam Idah, but the Irishman was unable to make any connection.

Idah then had another chance five minutes later, this time the ball was sent in by Alistair Johnston, giving Idah a chance to header it towards goal, with only the crossbar denying him on that occasion.

McCowan’s eyes lit up again just after the half-hour mark when he carved a bit of space for himself on the edge of the box after some lovely passing from the Celts to keep the ball from the Dundee defence. McCowan tried to fire his effort in to the bottom corner, but Carson was wise to the idea and was able to gather.

The Celts completely dominated the first half, limiting Dundee to nothing in their forward areas and keeping them penned in to their own half throughout.

It came as a bit of a surprise therefore when, with their first real attack of the match which came in the 40th minute, they managed to find an equaliser as Adewumi burst forward with the ball and found the bottom corner of the net

There were no changes for either side at half time and with seven minutes of the second half gone, the Celts took the lead once again. Kyogo picked up the ball on the right-hand side and swung it in to the area where Yang was lurking and he made no mistake as he headed it beyond Carson.

The Celtic celebrations had hardly subsided when the game was levelled again. Dundee broke forward on their right wing, with Josh Mulligan cutting in to the area with the ball at feet. He attempted to cut the ball back to the penalty spot, but a deflection from Cameron Carter-Vickers sent it beyond Schmeichel to make the score 2-2.

The hosts then had two chances in quick succession which lifted the home support and gave them belief that they could take something from the game.

Firstly, Adewumi shot from distance, with his effort swerving just wide of the post. Then Ingram had a chance from inside the box, but his header crept wide of the target.

On the hour mark, Brendan Rodgers rang the changes, replacing McCowan, Bernardo and Idah with Hatate, Engels and Kuhn.

Whilst the Celts looked for a way to find the lead again, Dundee continued to press forward and in the 78th minute, they took the lead for the first time in the match, with Aaron Donnelly finding the target with a header from an in-swinging corner from Finlay Robertson.

With the game in stoppage time, the Celts were awarded a penalty after Sylla blocked Nicolas Kuhn’s effort on goal with his hand. Arne Engels stepped up to the spot and buried his penalty to level the game.

There was no time for any more chances for either side, with the game ending in a 3-3 draw. Next up for the Celts is a Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park on Saturday.