Martin O’Neill hailed match winner Kelechi Iheanacho but admitted Tomas Cvancara was left “pretty down” after another fruitless afternoon in front of goal during Celtic’s 2-1 victory at Dundee.
The champions secured three crucial points at Dens Park through Iheanacho’s late strike, capitalising on Hearts dropping two points at Livingston earlier in the day. The result leaves Celtic three points behind the league leaders and two adrift of Rangers with an identical number of games played.
Hyun-jun Yang had opened the scoring early on, but Simon Murray’s penalty equaliser threatened to derail Celtic’s hopes. Cvancara, starting as the central striker, passed up several excellent opportunities to restore the lead before Iheanacho’s introduction after 58 minutes proved decisive. The Nigerian’s first goal since October, arriving with eight minutes remaining, secured a vital win that keeps the title race alive.
“He has had a really frustrating time in recent weeks,” O’Neill said of Iheanacho. “When I arrived first of all he was recovering from a hamstring injury, which I think he got about five minutes into a game. Wilfried put him into the side and he pulled it again in the League Cup final. He has been fighting back from that.”
The manager revealed he had spoken with the 29-year-old about rediscovering his form. “I had a chat with him. He has been a really fine player in his career. At 29 he should be at the peak of his career rather than scratching around. That will do him a world of good.”
The contrast with Cvancara could not have been more pronounced. The Czech striker cut a dejected figure despite the victory, his profligacy in front of goal continuing a troubling pattern for Celtic this season.
“Naturally, he was pretty down after the game,” O’Neill acknowledged. “Even though we had the win, he was down because he hasn’t scored. He needs to score. In his mind, he needs to score a goal. Some of the chances that he had today, I think he could have easily had two anyway. It becomes frustrating because no matter what you say, centre-forwards thrive on scoring goals. The confidence is big when you put the ball in the net.”
O’Neill recognised the significance of the result in difficult conditions. “If we had dropped points today, it would have been a long, long way back. I’m not saying it was finished, but it was a long way back.”