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Celtic Crazy were spot on again with the score prediction for today's game. That makes 2 home game exact scores in a row. Martin O'Neill came up with something new this week; Larsson and Hartson played up front with Chris Sutton in a deeper role behind them. Celtic started looking quite assured and Hartson made a good run down the right. Larsson wanted the early cross but by the time big John reached the bye-line Henrik was struggling to maintain a good position. The ball went right across the box and Thomson got round the defender to put a ball in. It looked as though Celtic were really up for the game. Celtic had most of the possession but Dundee managed a corner and when Lennon's clearance fell to Caballero he sent in a powerful shot which Douglas had to dive to his left to parry. Another corner followed which was cleared but when a difficult swerving ball was sent back in it was missed by Valgaeren and fell for Fan Zhiyi. His touch was poor and he only succeeded in sending it to Caballero on the bye-line. Fan Zhiyi moved out to take the return taking it first time with his left foot. It zipped round Balde and in high at the near post, giving Douglas no chance. No consolation for Dundee in end but it was to be the best goal of the day. Dundee had another couple of efforts on goal with Gavin Rae shooting over and Douglas catching another strike from Caballero. Celtic responded with a good strike from Petrov which was saved by the keeper and a couple of penalty claims which were turned down by referee Rowbotham. Celtic were back on terms within 5 minutes of the second half beginning. Paul Lambert ventured upfield and sent a dangerous looping cross into the box. Chris Sutton, unmarked seemed to hang in the air before sending a powerful header high to the keeper's left. In my preview I suggested that Khizanishvilli was thought to be a good prospect. He did have his problems, with Henrik approaching his best form and when Thompson played a great ball down the line for Larsson, Henrik got his body between himself and K. The young defender seemed to suffer a twist in his attempts to recover and went down. Henrik scampered on towards goal, virtually along the bye-line and his delicate shot deflected of Fan and went inside the post beating Langfield. From this point on, Dundee showed a lack of fight and commitment and there only looked to be one winner. Celtic had just won a corner when the lights in the stadium dimmed and after some consultation the players were taken off. The fans responded with a chorus of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". I thought an even more appropriate one would have been, "Who Put the Lights Out". When the "third half" started it was all Celtic and Petrov won a free kick on the left. He sent in a spinning, dipping cross which was met by the unmarked Hartson who directed the ball downwards at pace. Langfield had dived but the ball bounced just in front of him and went through his hands. Martin O'Neill will be pleased that his striking trio were all on target and surprisingly he made no substitutions. His team have now lost only 2 league points with only one game to go till we reach the half-way mark. Today was also the first time Celtic had gone behind in an SPL match. Surprisingly some people were quick to get on the team's back as they went one behind. This team could break all records this season. Dundee struggled to cope with Hartson, Larsson and Sutton. You can imagine how they must have felt at set-pieces when Balde, Valgaeren and Mjallby added their physical presence. The Christmas nights out had taken their toll on some of the Celtic faithful with a few gaps in the crowd noticeable. One fan just in front of me took advantage of the extra break in the game to stretch out on the seats and have a bit of a kip! My man of the match was Larsson. He was sharp, he was pulling off little nutmegs against defenders and he was full of running. Most of all he conjured up the crucial goal that put us ahead as he does so often. The team in general were first class and managed to remain committed and focussed when we are leaving the opposition miles behind. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Balde, Valgaeren; Petrov, Lennon, Lambert, Thompson; Sutton; Larsson, Sutton DUNDEE (3-5-2): Langfield; Del Rio, Zhiyi, Khizanishvilli (Smith 54); Artero (Carranza 58), Ketsbaia, Rae, Tores, Beghetto; Sara, Caballero |