Celtic take all three points on Flag Night at Paradise
· Yahoo Sports
Scottish PremiershipMonday, August 3, 2026Celtic Park
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CELTIC…1(Nygren 52)DUNDEE…0
Celtic kicked off their defence of the title with a 1-0 over Dundee at Celtic Park this evening, with Benjamin Nygren's second half goal proving to be the difference between the sides.
Before the match began, Callum McGregor unfurled the league flag as the Celtic faithful reflected on five consecutive titles and looked ahead to their defence of the Premiership crown this season.
Celtic controlled the possession in the opening stages as they looked to play their way in to the game, and with just shy of 10 minutes gone, new signing Kasper Høgh had his first sight of goal.
The ball was slipped through to Høgh in the box by Celtic’s other new recruit, Camilo Durán, however the Denmark internationalist’s effort went wide of the target.
There was another opportunity for Høgh just minutes later as he looked to get on the end of Benjamin Nygren’s shot towards goal, but the forward’s touch took the ball just wide of the post.
With Celtic starting to put pressure on Dundee’s back line, the visitors looked to make their own mark on the match, and Charlie Reilly went close to opening the scoring with a chance from inside the box, but he was only able to hit the side netting with his effort.
A good move from Celtic with just under half an hour gone produced another half-chance for Høgh. The move all came from Yang’s desire to win the ball back on the left wing, before Benjamin Nygren showed quick feet on the edge of the box to lay the ball off to Høgh, but his effort was deflected behind for a corner.
Celtic continued to knock on the door in search of an opener and Arne Engels had a glorious opportunity to put the Hoops ahead towards the end of the half when Kieran Tierney picked him out with a great cross in to the box, but the Belgian’s headed effort crept just wide of the post from six yards out.
Then it was Kieran Tierney’s turn to test the goalkeeper, with his powerful effort from inside the box drawing a good save from Owen Goodman, who was able to push the ball wide of the post to keep the score level at half time.
Early in to the second half, the goal which Celtic had been searching for was found by last season’s top scorer, Benjamin Nygren.
The Swede, who bagged 21 goals across all competitionslast season, was on hand to direct a powerful headed finish in to the bottom corner of the net after a wonderful cross from Kieran Tierney, giving Martin O’Neill’s men a deserved 1-0 lead.
The Hoops had defending to do just after the hour mark when Joe Bevan raced up the pitch with the ball at his feet. Auston Trusty was able to match him for pace and made a vital and well-timed intervention to prevent the Dundee man from having a shot at goal.
Soon after, Yang had a shot at goal from distance which the visitors’ keeper had to get down to quickly. He made the save, but almost gifted an opportunity to Kasper Høgh, who came charging in to feed off the scraps, however the referee blew for a foul, judging that the Dane had impeded a Dundee defender, and the chance was gone.
With 15 minutes of the match left, Martin O’Neill made two changes, with Camilo Durán and Yang replaced by James Forrest and Sebastian Tounekti.
Ashley Hay went close to levelling the score as the clock hit 80 minutes, with his header drawing a diving save from Viljami Sinisalo.
There were further changes for Celtic, with Benjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney making way for Luke McCowan and Colby Donovan.
Donovan almost set up a goal just minutes after coming on, with his low, powerful cross in to the box met by Kasper Høgh, but he was unable to hit the target.
Callum McGregor then went close to adding another stunning strike from distance to his glittering highlights reel, but the woodwork prevented the goal and the score remained 1-0.
With three points in the bag after tonight's league opener, Celtic will now turn their attention to Sunday's match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Fixtures
Celtic Vs. Dundee - Mon, Aug 3rd 2026, 19:30 Final score: 1 - 0