Bobo Balde took his first, faltering steps towards rehabilitating himself with Celtic 's fans as he got on the scoresheet in his side's 3-2 Scottish premier league victory over Dundee.
Bobo Balde took his first, faltering steps towards rehabilitating himself with Celtic's fans as he got on the scoresheet in his side's 3-2 Scottish premier league victory over Dundee.
Three days after his late rush of blood literally handed Olympique Lyon a late penalty to knock Celtic out of the Champions League, Balde struck in the 69th minute to put them 2-1 ahead in a tricky encounter.
Ex-Celtic midfielder Mark Fotheringham had earlier cancelled out Henrik Larsson's 15th minute header with a superb long-range strike after 20 minutes as Dundee battled valiantly at a sodden Celtic Park.
But Balde's header and substitute John Kennedy's first goal for the club after 87 minutes turned the game. A last-minute mistake by Scotland goalkeeper Rob Douglas, who replaced Magnus Hedman after the Swede's indifferent display in Lyon, allowed Lee Mair to net a consolation in injury time for Dundee but it was too late to deny Celtic the victory.
Celtic move to 46 points, eight ahead of champions Rangers, who visit Dunfermline tomorrow. "Considering the circumstances, I thought it was one of our best wins of the season," manager Martin O'Neill told reporters. "It was fantastic because we were never in control of the game and were absolutely deflated after Wednesday night.
"Dundee have always caused us problems and we have conjured up a result. I am absolutely delighted with the boys."
Third-placed Hearts move on to 29 points after ending their four-game losing streak with a 2-1 home win over Kilmarnock. Dundee United beat Livingston 2-0 at home while Aberdeen hammered managerless bottom side Partick Thistle 3-0 at Firhill and Hibernian won 1-0 at Motherwell.