Celtic escapes Dundee with a point in a thriller
Celtic needed a stoppage-time penalty to leave Dens Park with a hard-fought point after a pulsating 3-3 draw against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.
Arne Engels stepped up to convert the spot-kick in the 93rd minute, maintaining his perfect record this season from 12 yards and breaking Dundee hearts after it had fought back twice before going ahead 3-2 with just 12 minutes of normal time to play.
Luke McCowan scored the opener for Celtic with a powerful header that seemed inevitable for the former Dark Blues man.
It looked as if it would be another routine win from there as Celtic dominated, but without putting away its chances.
That profilgacy came back to bite Brendan Rodgers' side just before the break when Dundee launched a swift counter-attack from a failed Celtic corner, Oluwaseun Adewumi finishing a sweeping move with a fine finsh past Kasper Schmeichel.
Yang Hyun-Jun put Celtic back in front after the break, but just 60 seconds later, the scores were level again when Cameron Carter-Vickers deflected a shot past Schmeichel.
That galvanised Dundee on and off the park as the volume level went through the roof, and on 78 minutes, that roof was blown away when Aaron Donnelly rose highest to nod home a corner and give Dundee a deserved lead, becoming the second man to score against his former club for the match in the process.
But a Mohamed Sylla handball in the box gifted Celtic a chance to grab a late point, and Engels made no mistake with a solid penalty.
Celtic remains well ahead of Rangers at the top of the table with a lead of 16 points, despite dropping two here. Dundee is seventh.
While Rodgers praised the determination of his players in ensuring they did not leave the contest empty-handed, the Celtic head coach conceded they must do better.
"We had lots of control in the first 40 minutes, then we give away a needless goal from a counter attack. That gives them impetus," he said.
"I give credit to the players, they kept going. But for our standard, that second half has to be better. We were too passive, too slow. Just not aggressive enough.
"Tonight was about doing the basics well, and we did not do that well enough."
Dundee boss Tony Docherty was disappointed his side could not quite hold on for a first win over Celtic in almost 24 years, but was pleased with the way his players held their own against the runaway leader in testing circumstances.
"I'm immensely proud, but the overriding feeling is one of disappointment," he said. "I thought we did enough to win.
"I watched Celtic put on Kuhn, Engels, [Luis] Palma... I've asked Lyall Cameron to get off his sickbed to play; Finlay Robertson hasn't trained; Cesar Garza had to come off.
"To put in that level of performance against that opposition is bordering on heroic. We made a Champions League team wobble. We sensed it, we went for it and gave everything to win that match. I thought my players deserved that tonight."
