Iheanacho fires Celtic to victory with late winner against Dundee | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSunday, April 5, 2026Dens Park, Dundee

DUNDEE…1(Murray 57)

CELTIC…2(Yang 9, Iheanacho 82)

Celtic have moved to within just three points of the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over Dundee at Dens Park thanks to goals from Yang and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Martin O’Neill’s men looked to pressure Dundee early in the match and with five minutes on the clock, a chipped pass forward from Liam Scales was brought down by Daizen Maeda. The Japanese forward flashed a pass across the face of goal but there was no one in green and white to divert it in to the net.

Moments later, however, and from Celtic’s next chance, the deadlock was broken. A cross from Kieran Tierney was controlled in the box by Tomas Cvancara.

The Czech striker’s shot was saved and rebounded out towards Benjamin Nygren and Yang, with the South Korean getting the final touch to make it 1-0.

It should have been 2-0 to Celtic with a little over 20 minutes gone. This time, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain used his strength to hold off a Dundee midfielder and find Benjamin Nygren out wide.

The Swede fired an excellent low ball in to the box towards Daizen Maeda who came charging in at the back post, but he couldn’t reach the ball to double Celtic’s lead.

The home side found chances hard to come by in the first 30 minutes, with Celtic forcing them to defend for the most part, but a nice bit of play from Steven Pressley’s men produced a shooting opportunity for Brad Halliday from the edge of the box, but his effort rose high over the bar.

Tomas Cvancara had a massive opportunity to put Celtic two in front on the half-hour mark when he went through one-on-one against the Dundee goalkeeper, but his effort hit the post and the chance was gone.

The Hoops continued to create chances towards the end of the half, with Cvancara seeing a shot saved and Colby Donovan firing an effort wide of the target from the edge of the box. 

Early in the second half Dundee created a good chance with Cam Congreve forcing a save from Viljami Sinisalo. Celtic went straight up the park from that opportunity and should have scored, but Tomas Cvancara was unable to trouble the home side’s keeper with his shot.

In the 57th minute, Dundee levelled the match with a goal from the penalty spot. The spot-kick was awarded after a VAR review showed that Colby Donovan had handled the ball in the box. Simon Murray stepped up to take the penalty and made it 1-1.

Following the home side’s equaliser, Martin O’Neill made his first change of the afternoon, bringing Tomas Cvancara off for Kelechi Iheanacho.

Yang went close to reestablishing Celtic’s lead just after the hour mark when he got his head to a Kieran Tierney cross, but the Dundee keeper was able to tip it over the bar.

There were further changes for Celtic soon after, with Anthony Ralston and Luke McCowan replacing Colby Donovan and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Kieran Tierney and Daizen Maeda were also replaced by Marcelo Saracchi and James Forrest.

With time ticking away, Celtic were trying to carve out an opportunity but the home side, who were camped behind the ball, were resilient, and made it difficult for the Hoops to find a way through.

But with less than 10 minutes to go, the Celts found the goal they had been looking for. A ball in to the box from Saracchi was met by Iheanacho. The big forward took a touch to set himself and fired his effort beyond McCracken to make it 2-1.

Dundee, still reeling from that Celtic goal, were soon reduced to 10 men after Ryan Astley brought Yang down as the Korean was on his way through to goal. From the resulting free-kick, Benjamin Nygren went close, with his effort drifting just wide of the target.

Deep in stoppage time, Kelechi Iheanacho went close to making it 3-1 with a shot from the left side of the penalty area, but his effort was stopped on the line by a Dundee defender.

When the final whistle went, there was as much relief as there was joy amongst the travelling Celtic support, who celebrated what could prove to be a massive three points.

Fixtures

Dundee Vs. Celtic - Sun, Apr 5th 2026, 16:30 Final score: 1 - 2