The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dens horror show leaves Dee spooked
McIntyre still waiting for first points – and goals – as Dark Blues boss after Celtic go nap on another night to forget
DUNDEE 0 CELTIC 5
It was a Halloween horror show as Dundee were demolished at Dens with Celtic producing a hatful of tricks and treats for their supporters to hit five past the helpless home side.
Celtic opened the scoring through Tom Rogic before adding three more before half-time with Scott Sinclair, James Forrest and Odsonne Edouard also hitting the back of the net.
Ryan Christie made it five at the start of the second half with Celtic happily seeing out the rest of the game to easily take all three points.
Facing the Glasgow side at any time is a scary thought let alone when like the Dark Blues, you are bottom of the Premiership and have yet to pick up a point at Dens this season.
Most Dundee fans did not give their side a ghost of a chance, as shown by the amount of empty seats in the stands occupied by the home support, albeit with the game also being shown live on BT Sport.
Dark Blues boss Jim McIntyre made two changes from the team that was beaten by Hearts last Tuesday with Genseric Kusunga returning from injury to replace on-loan Celtic player Calvin Miller who was not allowed to play against his parent club while Roarie Deacon also came back into the starting line-up with Elton Ngwatala dropping to the bench.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers made four changes from the team that beat the Jambos in the semi-final of the League Cup at Murrayfield on Sunday with Christie, Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata and Craig Gordon coming in for Oliver Ntcham, Eboue Kouassi, Kristoffer Ajer and former Dundee keeper Scott Bain, with another ex-Dens favourite Jack Hendry on the bench.
Before kick-off there was a minute’s silence for the victims of the Leicester City helicopter crash with both teams wearing black armbands.
Not surprisingly, Celtic clicked into gear immediately, dominating early possession with McIntyre’s men struggling to get out of their own half.
The first big scare for Jack Hamilton in the Dundee goal did not come though until the 13th minute when Christie, who scored a cracker against Hearts at the weekend, tried his luck with a longrange shot that flew just over the bar.
Hoops skipper Mikael Lustig then came close shortly after with a shot from the edge of the box which again was just inches too high.
However, it was third time lucky for Celtic in the 20th minute when Rogic, who was making his 150th appearance for the Hoops, found himself with time and space on the left of the Dundee box and he curled a delightful shot high past Hamilton to give his side a deserved lead.
There was another big scare shortly after but Darren O’Dea managed to make a vital challenge on Edouard.
The large travelling support were though celebrating their side’s second goal in the 33rd minute when Ryan Inniss conceded a penalty with a challenge on Lustig, although the decision by referee Alan Muir looked harsh.
Sinclair stepped up and calmly sent Hamilton the wrong way to make it 2-0.
The biggest noise of the night came shortly after when two fireworks were let off in celebration.
There were more pyrotechnics on the field in the 38th minute when Kieran Tierney crossed from the left with Forrest sweeping the ball home past the helpless Hamilton to make it three and easy for the Glasgow side.
Dundee were desperate to get down the tunnel for a break from the pounding but deep into stoppage time, Rodgers’ men inflicted more pain when Forrest crossed from the left with Edouard producing a clinical finish from 10 yards past Hamilton.
There was initially no sign of Celtic letting up after the break with Christie making it five in the 49th minute, when Edouard sent Christie straight in on goal with the 23-year-old stabbing home past the shell-shocked Hamilton.
The keeper came to the rescue soon after when he made a superb acrobatic save from a 22-yard Edouard free-kick.
Tierney really should have made it six when he had what looked like a tap in at the back post but somehow the Scotland star sent his shot wide.
After that, Celtic seemed to take the foot off the gas with their manager making use of all his subs, with one of them Daniel Arzani having to be stretchered off in the 80th minute with the Hoops having to see out the game with just 10 men.
It mattered not with the final whistle coming as a great relief to the home players and the fans who stuck by them to the bitter end.
Dundee though cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves with a crunch clash with Motherwell looming large on Saturday.
Attendance – 7,960.
Dundee – Hamilton, Kerr, Kusunga, O’Dea, Deacon (Lambert, 69), Kamara, Inniss (Boyle, 45), Kallman (Moussa, 44), Miller, Curran, Spence. Subs not used – Parish, Ngwatala, Mendy, Nabi.
Celtic – Gordon, Lustig, Boyata (Ajer, 70), Benkovic, Tierney, Forrest, McGregor, Rogic (Morgan, 57), Christie, Sinclair, Edouard (Arzani, 57). Subs not used – Bain, Hendry, Hayes, Johnston.
Referee – Alan Muir.