Clark Robertson celebrates in front of Celtic fans' protest bannersSNS

Clark Robertson had never scored a Premiership goal until today

At a glance

  • Dundee beat Celtic at Dens Park for the first time since 1988 thanks to a Clark Robertson header and a Cameron Carter-Vickers own goal

  • Celtic remain five points behind league leaders Hearts after eight Premiership games

  • Celtic fan protest halts beginning of game as board comes under increasing pressure

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Beleaguered Dundee provided the shock of the Scottish Premiership season so far by beating Celtic at home for the first time in 37 years to leave Brendan Rodgers' side five points off top spot.

After Celtic fans' protest against the board delayed the start of the play as the pitch had to be cleared of balls, travelling supporters were only further angered by another flat showing.

Dundee enjoyed a fast start which was capped off by Clark Robertson's goal with an angled header from a corner which flew past Kasper Schmeichel.

The hosts' defending was heroic, and their threat on the counter started to grow. It was from that threat the second goal came.

Cameron Congreve turned Liam Scales inside and out before firing in a low cross that deflected off Cameron Carter-Vickers and in.

The door seemed to open for the visitors after the break when Matthew MacDermid pointed to the spot after Paul Digby seemingly blocked a Reo Hatate shot with his arm. Replays showed that, in fact, he'd been struck in the face and the referee soon ruled it out.

Although Celtic ramped up the pressure, Dundee held firm for a famous win - just their second in the league this season. It boosts them up to ninth, and relieves the pressure Steven Pressley had been under.

The same cannot be said for Rodgers and Celtic. They are five points off Hearts after eight games, and they travel to Tynecastle next week.

A loss would see them eight points behind, something unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

Analysis: Celtic rebuffed time and again by Dundee's dogged determination

Pressley said pre-match that if Dundee's performance was right, the result would take care of itself.

Little did we know that the oft-harangued head coach was, in fact, peering into a crystal ball.

The 1-1 draw with Rangers in August was mentioned as the high watermark of Dundee's season. A repeat of that would be needed, Pressley acknowledged. Perhaps a little more, even.

That's exactly what they got. While Celtic had 22 shots, Jon McCracken only had to make two saves.

That was down to the level of performance from the 10 men in front of them, who defended from back to front - and looked completely transformed from the side that lost convincingly to Aberdeen just a fortnight ago.

If you'd told any Dundee fans that weekend that they'd beat Celtic two weeks' later - for the first time in 46 meetings - they'd have laughed at you.

But Pressley masterminded the perfect plan, and his players executed it to a tee. Ethan Hamilton in midfield was particularly impressive and he, along with all of his teammates, deserves huge plaudits.

Possession stats between Celtic and DundeeOpta

The possession stats showed Celtic's dominance, but also Dundee's resolve

But what about Celtic? What went wrong on such a dismal day in Dundee?

Their attacking threat was there, but it was blunt and lifeless. Iheanacho passed up a number of opportunities, and he wasn't the only guilty party.

Of those 22 shots, just three were on target. There were 48 touches in the opposition box and 118 entries into the final third.

But there was no confidence that they could make the breakthrough, no belief that they could break down Dundee's low block.

Yes, you'd expect Celtic to have more firepower from the bench than young Johnny Kenny, and there have to be questions about that.

But questions must also be asked of the players who produced such a flat performance against a side that many people tipped for relegation.

What they said

Dundee head coach Steven Pressley: "Proud is the word. We came into the game, we've worked exceptionally hard over the last couple of weeks.

"There was a lot of suffering [after Aberdeen result] but we've reacted in the best possible manner. You can work on certain aspects but the execution of it is down to the players. I thought to a man they were brilliant today."

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "The result and performance are bitterly disappointing. Give credit to Dundee, they defended very well when they got in front.

"All the statistics in the game show we dominated the ball, but we didn't do enough with it. We had some opportunities in the first half, got into some areas. Second half likewise.

"It was a disappointing day for us."

What's next?

Dundee travel to Falkirk next Saturday (15:00 BST) while Celtic have Europa League action midweek against Sturm Graz on Thursday (20:00) before that trip to Tynecastle next Sunday (12:00 GMT).

Player of the match

C. Congreve
8.75
20 C. Congreve
8.75
3 C. Robertson
8.46
19 J. Westley
8.43
12 I. Samuels
8.36
48 E. Hamilton
8.35
7 D. Wright
8.34
8 P. Digby
8.30
4 R. Astley
8.28
22 L. Graham
8.25
15 S. Murray
8.21
11 A. Hay
8.19
10 F. Robertson
8.18
1 J. McCracken
8.10
2 E. Ingram
8.01
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After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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