CELTIC MOVED TO within touching distance of the Scottish Premiership title following a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee at Dens Park.
Dundee had kept the Hoops at bay until first half stoppage time when Jozo Simunovic’s shot took a deflection off Dundee defender Kevin Gomis on its way into the net.
The Glasgow giants added a second soon after the break as Stuart Armstrong headed past Scott Bain.
Substitute Faissal El Baktaoui sent a superb strike past Craig Gordon to give Dundee hope in the 76th minute but Celtic held on to extend their unbeaten run to 36 domestic matches.
Victory restores Celtic’s 25-point advantage over Aberdeen at the top of the table with nine games remaining and means the Hoops could claim a sixth successive title with victory away to Hearts on 2 April.
Celtic, who made two changes from the side that were held to a draw in last weekend’s Old Firm derby, quickly imposed themselves on the game but were frustrated by Dundee’s solid and organised defence.
Stuart Armstrong’s effort from 25 yards safely dipped over the bar before Moussa Dembele rose above the Dundee defence to meet a corner but sent his header wide.
The Hoops dominated possession and territory but it took until first half stoppage time to get a shot on target when Paul McGowan nodded Dedryck Boyata’s bullet header off the line.
Dundee thought they had survived the danger but conceded moments later. Good skill on the wing by Forrest saw the Scotland international skip past two Dundee defenders before cutting the ball back to Simunovic whose flicked shot took a deflection off the back of Gomis’ head on its way past Bain.
Armstrong grabbed a second just six minutes after the break. Callum McGregor fed Forrest down the right and he jinked past Kevin Holt before floating a ball into the six-yard box that Armstrong headed past Bain for his third goal in four games.
Dundee missed a big chance to get back into the game on the hour. Paul McGowan intercepted a loose pass from Kieran Tierney and then played in Marcus Haber, who sent a curling effort narrowly wide of the post from the edge of the box.
However, the Dens Park outfit did reduce the deficit with 15 minutes left. Substitute El Baktaoui, who had only been on the pitch for just over a minute, turned away from Boyata just inside the Celtic half before bursting forward and sending a wonderful swerving strike into the top corner of the net from 20 yards out.
Haber then blew an opportunity to equalise late on when he met a cross at the back post but the forward sent his effort wide.
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