celtic march on with cup win over dundee

Gregor Kyle
CELTIC edged through to the fifth round of the Homecoming Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory over Dundee at Celtic Park thanks to goals from Scott Brown and Aiden McGeady.

It was a match dominated by Celtic, with the visitors creating little in the way of clear-cut chances, although Gordon Strachan’s men did have to come back from a goal down after an Artur Boruc error handed Dundee a 14th-minute lead.

The fourth round tie was played out in miserable conditions, and the 23,070 who had braved the heavy rain and high winds were left blinking in disbelief when the visitors took the lead in bizarre circumstances.

Celtic appeared content to play their way into the game with Shunsuke Nakamura slipping as he fired in a shot in the fifth minute and then Glenn Loovens close to making the perfect connection on a corner from the Japanese midfielder.

But it was from this promising chance that Dundee launched a hopeful long ball forward, with Colin McMenamin in hot pursuit, flanked by two covering defenders.

There initially appeared to be no danger, with Artur Boruc coming out to clear the ball, but the keeper completely missed his kick, swinging at fresh air and allowing the ball to float past him towards an empty net where it was tapped home by McMenamin.

As expected, Celtic went on to carve out the better the chances in the wake of this early shock, with Scott McDonald missing one great opportunity with McGeady and Nakamura in space alongside him, and then Scott Brown coming close with a near post header and a later shot from 25 yards.

But the goal had given Dundee the boost in confidence they were looking for, until Brown’s equaliser on 37 minutes levelled the score.

The midfielder showed determination and presence of mind as he pounced on a deflected McDonald shot, took a touch and looked up before rifling the ball Douglas and into the bottom corner.

Within minutes Brown was through again, this time after lifting the ball over the head of Craig McKeown while running at full pelt. Then, seconds later, Rab Douglas blasted a clearance off Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink as Celtic turned up the pressure.

However, it was not until the final minute of the half that Celtic made another breakthrough, largely thanks to the skill and ingenuity of McGeady.

Having got to the byline the winger doubled back, pulling away from his marker, David Cowan, before rifling in an unstoppable, dipping shot that flashed past Douglas and into the far corner.

The goal came at exactly the right time for Celtic and with Gordon Strachan’s men emerging strongly and playing with purpose after the interval it looked to have completely killed off the visitors.

There were chances for Celtic. Paul Caddis forced a great save from Douglas with a shot as he cut in from the right flank, Loovens came close with a header from a Nakamura corner and McDonald’s striker instincts got the better of him as he ballooned a shot over the bar rather than play in the unmarked Nakamura.

Celtic played some nice football at points and as the half wore on McDonald was incredibly unlucky as he made himself an opening and fired inches wide of the post, while Stephen McManus also came close with a glancing header.

With Celtic just a goal ahead there were a few nervy moments as Dundee threw on an extra striker. But there was little to worry the home side, until Boruc spilled a McMenamin cross with seconds remaining. Thankfully, Loovens was on hand to clear the ball

Gordon Strachan’s men now ease through to the next round, with the draw scheduled to take place on Sunday, January 11.

Homecoming Scotland Scottish Cup
Fourth Round
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Celtic Park, Glasgow
CELTIC… 2
(Brown 37, McGeady 44)
DUNDEE… 1
(McMenamin 14)
WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Scott Brown
CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc; Caddis, Loovens, McManus, Naylor; Nakamura, S Brown, Crosas (Robson 64), McGeady; Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 70), McDonald.
Subs: M Brown, Caldwell, Mizuno.
DUNDEE (4-4-2) Douglas; Paton (Benedictus 92), McKeown, Lauchlan, Malone; Shinnie (Curier 78), Cowan, Pozniak (McHale 69), O’Brien; McMenamin, Daquin.
Subs: Roy, Williams.