A NARROW 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park this afternoon took Celtic to just one game of securing their sixth consecutive Scottish title.
The Parkhead club, who triumphed thanks to a rare Jozo Simunovic strike in the first half and a Stuart Armstrong header in the second, will clinch the Ladbrokes Premiership if they beat Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday week.
Brendan Rodgers’s side could even be crowned champions once again before that without kicking a ball if their nearest rivals Aberdeen lose to Dundee away from home two days earlier.
A defeat for Derek McInnes’s second-placed side to Paul Hartley’s team in that Friday night game on Tayside would leave them 25 points behind the leaders with just eight games remaining and 24 points left to play for.
The visitors, held 1-1 at Parkhead by their city rivals Rangers seven days earlier, looked to be heading for another routine victory after two goals set up by winger James Forrest.
Forrest supplied Simunovic on the edge of the Dundee area just before half-time and the centre half fired beyond goalkeeper Scott Bain.
Armstrong built on Celtic’s lead in the 52nd minute with his 12th goal of the 2016/17 campaign when he rose and met a Forrest cross with a glancing header that left Bain with no chance.
But Faissal El Bakhtaoui pulled one back for the home team with 12 minutes remaining – just a minute after he replaced Henrik Ojamma.
The French Moroccan striker charged up the centre of the park unchallenged before unleashing a powerful shot past Craig Gordon from fully 25 yards out.
Eboue Kouassi, the Ivorian midfielder who signed for £2.6 million in January, came on for Callum McGregor and was, despite being booked almost immediately, able to help the Glasgow club sew up the victory and another three points.
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