Nygren header seals narrow opening-day 1-0 win for Celtic
Nygren header seals narrow Celtic win as title defence begins with gritty 1-0 home victory over Dundee in their Scottish Premiership opener at Celtic Park.
Celtic began their Scottish Premiership title defence with a gritty 1-0 win over Dundee at Celtic Park, with Benjamin Nygren’s second-half header separating the sides in a tight opener.
Before kick-off, captain Callum McGregor unfurled the league flag as the home supporters celebrated five consecutive titles.
Celtic dominated early possession, probing for the opening goal as they settled into the game. Inside 10 minutes, club record signing Kasper Høgh had his first real chance when Camilo Durán slipped him through in the box, but the Denmark international’s effort drifted wide.
Minutes later, Høgh was again in the action, looking to latch onto Nygren’s shot on goal, only for the forward’s touch to take the ball past the post.
As Celtic ramped up the pressure on Dundee’s defence, the visitors offered a threat of their own. Charlie Reilly went close to breaking the deadlock from inside the area, but could only direct his effort into the side netting.
Just shy of the half-hour mark, a well-worked Celtic move created another opportunity for Høgh. After Yang pressed high to win the ball on the left, Nygren showed quick feet on the edge of the box to lay it off to the Dane, whose deflected shot was turned behind for a corner.
The Hoops kept knocking on the door, and Arne Engels came closest to giving them the lead before the break. Tierney’s excellent cross found the Belgian unmarked in the six-yard box, but he headed narrowly wide.
Tierney then tested Owen Goodman himself with a first-time strike from inside the area, forcing the Dundee keeper into a smart save to push the ball wide and keep the score level at the break.
Early in the second half, Celtic’s persistence finally paid off. Nygren, last season’s top scorer with 21 goals across all competitions, rose to meet another superb Tierney cross and powered a header into the bottom corner to give Martin O’Neill’s side a deserved 1-0 lead.
Dundee threatened to respond after the hour mark when Joe Bevan surged forward with the ball at his feet, but Auston Trusty made a crucial, well-timed tackle to deny the visitors a shot on goal.
Soon after, Yang tried his luck from distance, forcing Goodman into a quick save low to his right. The rebound almost fell to Høgh, who rushed in to pounce, but the referee pulled play back for a foul on a Dundee defender.
With 15 minutes remaining, O’Neill made two changes, bringing on James Forrest and Sebastian Tounekti for summer signing Camilo Durán and Yang.
Dundee pushed for an equaliser on 80 minutes, Ashley Hay’s header drawing an excellent save from Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.
Celtic made further changes late on, with Nygren and Tierney being replaced by Luke McCowan and Colby Donovan. Donovan nearly created an instant impact, whipping in a low, powerful cross that found Høgh in the box, but the Dane couldn’t direct his effort on target.
Callum McGregor then looked to have added a second with a spectacular long-range strike, only for the woodwork to intervene before James Forrest sent the rebound well wide, with the score remaining at 1-0 come the full time whistle.
Up next for Celtic is a trip to Kilmarnock on Sunday, while Dundee play host to Aberdeen on Saturday.
After the match Celtic manager Martin O’Neill was happy to have secured all three points, but wasn’t overly impressed with the performance.
He said: “We won, which is the most important thing. I thought we were pretty rusty, although we did create and should have scored a number of goals.
“When you consider the games that we played with high intensity last season, I thought in the first half we didn’t have that intensity.
“We had to try and force the issue in the second half, which I think we did and we got the goal.
“Overall, we won. We created a number of chances, but in all honesty, the win was the most important thing.”
Dundee manager Steven Pressley added: “I’m exceptionally proud of the group. We’re in a real transitional moment.
“We were incredibly brave with the ball and without the ball. Also, I couldn’t be prouder of how hard they worked tonight.
“It was an exceptional performance and one we can certainly build on. I was really pleased. I was truly proud of the players’ performance.
“Our two centre-backs were outstanding tonight, but we do need depth in that area.”