Celtic player ratings vs Dundee: A magical 9 puts his trophy head on and an 8 clamps the critics in key win

Celtic won 2-1 away from home against Dundee in their first post-split Premiership clash.

With Rangers securing a 2-1 win at St Mirren prior to kick-off, the Hoops lead was cut to solely goal difference, but they knew victory here would reaffirm their game gap. It was an impressive start from Celtic and only Greg Taylor knows how he didn’t head them into an early lead.

Jon McCracken’s gloves in the home net were stung on more than one occasion. It was a rough start for the hosts before they eventually settled, with Celtic attacks gradually turning into frustration. Reo Hatate could have had more out of a lovely piece of play by James Forrest but fired wide.

If it had gone a tad stale in attacking play, Forrest served up caviar with his opener. Whether it was a bad touch or a good lay-up from Kyogo is up for debate but the serial Hoops winner pinged a lovely volley into the bottom corner regardless.

That calmed any lingering Celtic nerves and they assumed full control of proceedings at that point, even with Dundee holding a physical and pacey threat going forward on the counter.

Mo Sylla’s header off a Dundee corner ought to have found the bottom corner but it trundled painfully wide for those in the home end hoping their side could pull off a shock to boost their European football bid. Celtic had total control in the first half but it’d ben wrestled back by a rejuvenated Dundee, with Liam Scales called upon to make a major block and deny Amadou Bakayoko a tap-in.

Forrest has been in the heat of a title chase before at Celtic and he was showing his teammates how it was done. Just as Dundee were piling pressure on, he pounced on a mix-up at the back and clinically buried the chance gifted to him. He was rolling back the years at the right moment.

Dundee were gifted a way back into the game as a poor Adam Idah clearance was sliced into his own net. There were moments of nerve but the hosts didn’t create anything clear cut that would have prompted moments of anxiety for the visiting fans.

Rodgers had called for his players to put their trophy heads on pre-game, and they answered with a professional display that offered few glimpses of wobbling as the leading team. It’s a three-point lead at the top of the league for Celtic, while Dundee remain sixth. Here’s how we rated the Hoops players in Tayside.