Kelechi Iheanacho's 82nd-minute winner kept Celtic in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership title as they battled to a 2-1 victory over 10-man Dundee on Sunday. 

Having seen Yang Hyun-Jun's opener cancelled out by Simon Murray's penalty, Iheanacho came off the bench to help Martin O'Neill's side capitalise on Hearts' earlier draw. 

League leaders Hearts, who were displaced at the summit by Rangers on Saturday, returned to the top but lead the way by just a point after settling for a 2-2 draw at Livingston. 

Celtic took just eight minutes to take the lead through Yang, who reacted quickest to finish from close range after Tomas Cvancara's shot was spilled by Jon McCracken.

Daizen Maeda then forced McCracken into a smart stop with his feet before Cvancara's attempted dink beat the Dundee goalkeeper but clipped the left post in the 31st minute.

But for all of Celtic's dominance, they were pegged back in the 57th minute, when Colby Donovan was adjudged to have blocked Ryan Astley's shot with his hand inside the box. 

After a lengthy VAR review, referee Steven McLean pointed to the spot, with Dundee captain Murray stepping up and sending Viljami Sinisalo the wrong way.

Yang almost immediately restored Celtic's lead but saw his header tipped over by McCracken, but there was to be one final twist in the final 10 minutes at Dens Park. 

Marcelo Saracchi's cross from the left was not dealt with by Astley, with the ball dropping kindly for Iheanacho to smash home on the swivel for his third league goal of the season.

Astley's miserable outing was compounded in the 84th minute as he received a straight red card for a last-man foul on Yang, with Celtic holding on for all three points. 

Rising to the occasion #DUNCEL | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/CdMrCnmayG

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 5, 2026

Data Debrief: Celtic's attack gets them out of jail

With Hearts dropping points ahead of kick-off, Celtic understood the importance of claiming a win against a Dundee side looking to complete their first home league double over them since March 1958, and they just about got the job done. 

Celtic have only lost one of their last 50 meetings with Dundee in all competitions (W42 D7), though O'Neill will be concerned about his team's defence in the title run-in. 

After conceding again today, Celtic have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight league matches, last going longer without a shutout in February 2006 under Gordon Strachan (10 games).

But fortunately for the Celtic boss, his team were ultimately deserving of their win, given they registered an expected goals (xG) total of 3.77 from their 17 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to Dundee's 1.42 from their eight attempts.