Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton reacted to the Hoops’ 3-3 draw against Dundee at Dens Park tonight, with a late Arne Engels penalty securing Celtic a 90+3 minute point.
Celtic caused all their own problems, with Auston Trusty consistently struggling against Dundee’s aggressive press, while Celtic’s midfield failed to cope with Mohammad Sylla and Cesar Garza.
Despite Brendan Rodgers bringing on Arne Engels and Reo Hatate in the second half, if anything, it only pushed the game further in Dundee’s favour.
Dundee as gutsy as they come. Well played Tony Doherty and his team. Celtic too many players off the boil and after Dundee went 3-2 up never really looked like equalising. Maybe a valuable point at the end of the season. Fair play to Engels with a cool penalty. Great match👏👏
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) January 14, 2025
Luke McCowan did start the game well and looked positive for much of the first half, scoring an early goal against his former side just 5 minutes in after a Greg Taylor cross.
However, alongside Paulo Bernardo, they ultimately lost control of the middle of the park towards the end of the first half, with Celtic never really regaining any authority.
Bernardo himself had two chances to score in the game, the first coming in the first half to put Celtic 2-0 up, and the second in the second half to put Celtic back ahead.
However, having not started after his performance against Rangers at Ibrox on January 2nd, he failed to impress.
Engels stepped up when it mattered most to send Trevor Carson the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Despite Celtic’s record signing struggling to get to grips with the game off the bench, he proved that when Celtic needed him, he could deliver, scoring two goals from the spot in just three days.
Dundee do deserve credit for the way they played; they ran Celtic as close to defeat as they possibly could.
With much made of Daizen Maeda and James Forrest missing the game, Dundee themselves are in the middle of an injury crisis, showing that Tony Docherty is really getting the best out of the Dees.
Come the Premiership split, you certainly wouldn’t bet against Dundee being in the top 6 given tonight’s impressive display.
