Soccer

Celtic give Aberdeen a lifeline with Dundee draw

With six games to play the league leaders now hold only a five point advantage

Celtic manager Ronny Deila during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match at Dens Park, Dundee. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Celtic manager Ronny Deila during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match at Dens Park, Dundee. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Tue Apr 05 2016 - 22:33

Dundee 0 Celtic 0

Celtic left the door open for Ladbrokes Premiership title rivals Aberdeen yet again as the were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee.

The Hoops were looking to re-establish their seven-point lead at the top of the table at Dens Park.

But they failed to find a way past Paul Hartley’s men in the City of Discovery, with the stalemate meaning they boast just a five-point advantage over the Dons with six games to play.

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Derek McInnes’ team, who have one more game against the Hoops after the split, will now hope they can push Celtic all the way to the wire.

The Dens clash was another opportunity for the impressive Patrick Roberts to showcase his abilities after his sensational two-goal display for Ronny Deila’s men against Hearts on Saturday.

But it came too soon for Tom Rogic after the Australian was ruled out by the head knock he sustained in the 3-1 victory over the Jambos, meaning Nir Bitton returned to anchor the Hoops midfield.

Dee boss Hartley, meanwhile, welcomed back goalkeeper Scott Bain after his Dundee derby dismissal.

It took Roberts just seven minutes to give the first glimpse of his talent. The on-loan Manchester City forward took Kevin Holt out the game with a clever flick but blazed his shot over.

Leigh Griffiths was struggling with a series of sloppy touches and was frustrated again when Bain blocked at his feet after he was put in by Stefan Johansen's dummy.

The hosts threatened too as Nick Ross’ snapshot was pushed away by Craig Gordon while Rory Loy could only aim straight at the keeper after being set free by Kane Hemmings’ flick-on.

Kieran Tierney was also impressing for Celtic and almost created the opener two minutes before the break as he picked out Johansen with a low cut-back, but the Norwegian’s strike ricocheted off Griffiths and bounced against Bain’s post before Holt could smack clear.

It was a closely balanced affair but Celtic should have made more use of Roberts. When he did get to run at the home defence, one mazy run took him past four bewildered Taysiders before he was finally stopped.

But Celtic were not exactly watertight at the back. Gordon had to pull off a brilliant stop to keep out Paul McGowan’s 20-yard volley, while Loy was disappointed when he met the rebound on the stretch but could only hit the upright.

Deila’s team kept pushing, coming close with a pair of headers from Mikael Lustig and Charlie Mulgrew from back-to-back corners, but the longer the match went, the more desperate their efforts became.

Skipper Scott Brown, forced to fill in at right-back when Lustig was replaced as Deila threw on striker Colin Kazim-Richards, wasted a pair of crosses, sparking a groan from the Hoops faithful.

Roberts tried to ignite down the left but found no takers for his crosses as Dundee held out for a valuable point in their bid to claim a top-six spot.