Losing to a late Celtic goal was a real sickener for Dundee who had done so well against the league leaders.
But putting aside thoughts of ‘what could have been’, there were some real positive signs for the Dark Blues.
Yes, Mark McGhee’s side ended the weekend bottom of the Premiership but the new boss will have been pleased with the character and determination shown by his players.
He, and Simon Rusk, will look to build on that character for their run of three home games ahead of them.
Courier Sport takes a look at three talking points from the Parkhead clash.
Penalty incident
Dundee should have had a penalty in the dying moments of the game.
He might not have meant it, but Jota handled the ball in the Celtic penalty area.
The Portuguese forward headed the ball on to his upper arm, before it grazed his outstretched hand.
Rules of the game state: “It is an offence if a player touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger.”
Mark McGhee was very diplomatic post-match, perhaps so given his current touchline ban, but he could have been forgiven at being incensed at Gavin Duncan’s decision to play on.
Game plan (almost) worked
On paper, it didn’t look good. Celtic had 81% of possession. Dundee attempted four shots to the host’s 19.
But the Dark Blues so nearly did it.
Right from the first whistle, they sat back and absorbed pressure.
At times, it looked like it was going to be unsustainable for 90 minutes but the Dee defence coped with most of what Ange Postecoglou’s side had to throw at them.
Going forward, they looked a threat too.
Danny Mullen got the opener and caused the Hopps’ defence problems throughout.
They also struggled to deal with the pace of Paul McMullan in the first half then the creativity of Niall McGinn in the second.
In the end, it was an attacking move that caused their downfall.
Luke McCowan burst up the park from a Celtic corner but he ran out of steam only for the Hoops to come back and get the late winner.
No ‘free-hit’
After the game, the Dundee bossed dismissed any notion of the Hoops being a ‘free hit’ for his side.
If the Dark Blues got beat 4-0 no one would have said it was unexpected.
Not only did they run the league leaders close, they also so nearly came away with a result.
The majority of the near-60,000 crowd in Parkhead were left stunned not once but twice as they grabbed their goals against the run of play.
Bar the late winner, the only other time Dundee switched off was when Giakoumakis scored two in quick succession in the first half.
It was a tough defeat to take but if the Dark Blues can put in that drive and determination in their remaining fixtures, then they are in with a shout of survival.
