Since the New Year, Celtic have been providing some drama and that continued at Dens Park on Tuesday night.
Brendan Rodgers has been used to his side swatting away every team that comes in their way on the domestic stage, and with it, only conceding four Premiership goals up until December.
But, since the start of 2025, Celtic have shipped seven and many of their troubles have been on the road.
That was proven when Celtic drew 3-3 at Dundee, took the lead twice, but still needed a stoppage-time Arne Engels penalty to seal a point.
Usually, the main talking points are the goals themselves, the questionable defending or the high-quality attacking player.
And whilst that was the case at Dens Park, the celebrations, or lack of them, were also a talking point.
Neil Lennon on ‘Celtic fan’ Aaron Donnelly scoring for Dundee
Luke McCowan opened the scoring after five minutes and opted against celebrating against his former club, which is the norm, but Aaron Donnelly did the same for the opposition.
The Dundee defender’s reasoning for that isn’t clear, but Neil Lennon thinks he is a ‘Celtic fan’, as he told Sky Sports Football (14/01/25 at 10:10 pm).
Kris Boyd even joked that, when Engels scored the equaliser, Donnelly was ‘celebrating’, as the Northern Irishman seemed apologetic and put his hands up when beating Auston Trusty to a header from a corner.
“It’s a fantastic header,” said Lennon. “He is under a lot of pressure from Trusty. But he gets up early and buries it. Not too sure about his celebration – I have been in that position myself. I didn’t score for five years. The kid is obviously a Celtic fan. But he should show a little bit more, I think. But it’s a brilliant goal.”
James McFadden added: “If it’s genuine and didn’t know what to do, then fair enough. But I don’t care if you are a Celtic fan. You have to apologise to the Dundee fans behind the goal, so it must be the fact that he isn’t sure what to do and is surprised he has actually scored a goal.”
Boyd then joked: “I saw him celebrating when the equaliser went in.”
Donnelly hails Celtic after scoring for Dundee
Given the size of Celtic across the world, it’s the norm for the champions to have so much support, especially within the Irish community.
Donnelly explained that he was ‘taken aback’ by scoring, hence his reaction straight after, but he did speak highly of the Glasgow club.
The 21-year-old referenced Celtic being a European side and how his side has proven their worth by competing against a team that plays at the highest level, as he told Sky Sports.
“It was great to get on the scoresheet,” said Donnelly. “It has been a while since I scored, so I really enjoyed it.
On being reluctant to celebrate: “I was kind of taken aback by what actually happened because there was a bit of a scuffle before and the ref pulled me and my marker aside. Also, I didn’t really know what to do.
“I think Celtic’s a great team. They compete in European competitions and it just goes to show that we can compete with teams like this. We competed with Rangers and got a good result. I think the boys dug really deep and it was a great performance.”
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