Forrest keeps eyes on prize
Scotland star gets the job Dun’ with great brace
BRENDAN Rodgers has talked about the need to stick on the trophy heads for this time of the season.
It is just as well for the Celtic James Forrest never takes his off. He probably needs a reinforced pillow to get a decent kip and the serial winner was at it again at Dens Park to allow Hoops fans to rest easy last night.
Forrest (32) got the Hoops out of a hole at Hampden last week and he made sure there were no title slip ups against a determined Dundee on an afternoon that got too tight for comfort.
His double was enough to see off the Dens men and restore Celtic’s three point lead at the top of the Premiership after Rangers went level after their win at St Mirren.
Like their Ibrox chums, this turned into a pretty tense 90-odd minutes, even with Forrest doing his bit.
The Scotland man slammed in a sensational opener and seemed to have settled it with a slick second after the interval.
But Celts paid the price for flapping at Owen Dodgson’s corners all day, allowing Antonio Portales to pull one back to leave Hoops punters chewing fingernails towards the end.
They might need to get used to it over the next few weeks. Cool heads are needed along with trophy ones.
News of Rangers’ late winner in Paisley might have dampened some enthusiasm on Celtic supporters buses piling into the City of Discovery.
And there would have been a general apprehension anyway given the way this campaign has unfolded.
Dundee might not have beaten the Hoops in these parts since September 1988 – when Tommy Coyne did the damage for the Dark Blues and earned himself a Parkhead move in the process – but the recent draw with Rangers showed Tony Docherty’s men are more than decent.
Celts smashed them for six in Glasgow last time they met but those were more relaxed times. Now the title’s within range.
Events in Paisley didn’t change too much for Celtic going in though.
Rodgers had hammered home the message about taking care of their own affairs rather than relying on any Rangers favours.
His side certainly looked like they meant business early on at Dens. Celts could have been a couple up inside the opening quarter of an hour amid an initial blitz.
Forrest set the tone when he cut inside from the left and slashed one wide in the first few minutes.
Nicolas Kuhn on the other flank took note and tested Jon McCracken with a couple of digs too.
Chance
The keeper also had to paw out a wicked Reo Hatate cross and then bat away one from Greg Taylor when he couldn’t quite tuck away his back post header after Liam Scales glanced on a Matt O’Riley corner.
Another big chance went when Hatate latched on to a loose ball after a lovely bit of skill from Forrest ended up with the ball in the danger area, but the midfielder prodded wide.
Celtic kept their cool and kept poking holes – until Forrest found a way through after half an hour with an absolute stunner.
Hatate started the dash, feeding Kyogo and his touch spun up on the edge of the box, where the wide man superbly arrowed the ball into the far corner flush on the volley.
It was a thing of beauty and just what the visitors needed. Dundee had been determined until that point and threatened when Amadou Bakayoko crept in at the back post but failed to get enough on the ball to bother Joe Hart.
There were a couple of long range swipes from the striker and Luke McCowan but too often the Dens men picked the wrong option when a promising break looked on.
The danger remained though – especially in a sluggish start to the second half by the Hoops.
Bakayoko was an occasional handful, Scott Tiffoney and McCowan popped up in pockets of space and Owen Dodgson’s left peg was a problem at set pieces all afternoon.
The full back almost did the damage from a corner, early in the sec- ond half when his inswing- er picked out Mo Sylla, who thumped his header wide of the post.
Soon after Jordan McGhee wriggled free to send a header straight at Hart from the another Dodgson corner. Celtic had lost control of the flow and the jitters were starting to grow.
The introduction of Tomoki Iwata and Adam Idah wrestled it back – before Forrest turned down the tension dial with his and Celtic’s second.
Jittery
It was a mixture of hard graft, kind bounces and cool finishing. Forrest’s pressing won the ball. A couple of Dens defenders went a bit Keystone Cops and the ball broke back into his path, allowing the winger to ram low into the net.
That should have been that. But nothing has been smooth for Celts this season, and, sure enough, Dundee hit back. Dodgson was at it again from a corner, the Hoops failed to cope and Portales hooked goalward where Idah’s swipe took the ball away from Hart.
It set up a rather jittery closing 15 minutes or so but Celtic managed to see it out and Forrest earned a big hug from his relieved gaffer at the end.