Dundee 1-2 Celtic: James Forrest double restores three-point lead at Scottish Premiership summit

James Forrest's double restored Celtic's three-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership as the champions beat Dundee 2-1 at Dens Park.

Celtic were tasked with responding to Rangers' 2-1 victory at St Mirren earlier on Sunday, a result which left them level on points with their Glasgow rivals.

Forrest, on his first start in five months, set the Hoops on their way to avoiding a twist in the title race as his sumptuous volley on the half-hour saw Celtic lead at the break.

Celtic had to weather a second-half Dundee onslaught before Forrest added his crucial second, starting and finishing a move which ended with him lashing home on 67 minutes.

Antonio Portales pulled one back for Dundee on 74 minutes to set up a tense finale but Celtic held on to move three points clear of Rangers at the Scottish Premiership summit with four games remaining.

Forrest was involved from the opening moments, working room to shoot wide from long range, before Nicolas Kuhn forced two saves from Jon McCracken after cutting in off the right flank.

The Dundee goalkeeper pulled a brilliant, clawing save to prevent Greg Taylor's close-range header creeping in before Reo Hatate stabbed a glorious chance wide after more encouraging play from Forrest in the Dundee area.

Celtic grabbed control of the contest on the half-hour thanks to a moment of magic from Forrest, who showed instinctive brilliance to volley the ball home after the ball had popped up off Kyogo Furuhashi on the edge of the box.

Dundee responded well to falling behind, with Dundee captain Luke McCowan and Bakayoko stinging Joe Hart's palms with long-range efforts before the break.

The hosts ramped up the pressure on the Celtic goal after the restart, with Mo Sylla heading wide from one of