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OMEN
01-10-2009, 10:25 PM
Aiden McGeady showed the Celtic fans and boss Gordon Strachan what they had been missing as he returned from his club ban to help the Parkhead side to victory against Dundee in their Homecoming Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at Parkhead.

The Republic of Ireland international was suspended for a fortnight and fined two weeks' wages after a dressing room row with Strachan following the 1-1 draw with Hearts last month.

After being left out against Dundee United last week when available again, he was reinstated for the visit of the Irn-Bru First Division side and responded with a fine goal just before the break to take the home side in to Sunday's fifth-round draw.

An horrendous error by Hoops' keeper Artur Boruc in the 14th minute had allowed Colin McMenamin to put the visitors into a shock lead which was cancelled out by Scott Brown before McGeady curled a wonderful shot into the top corner past Rab Douglas.

Boruc saw little action after the interval, but he almost compounded another flawed performance when he dropped a McMenamin cross a yard from goal in the last minute, Glenn Loovens coming to his rescue this time by clearing the danger.

The Poland international, and the Hoops fans in the crowd of 23,070, will be thankful for McGeady's return.

Dundee's one and only Scottish Cup win over Celtic was back in season 1894/95 and manager Jocky Scott had indicated this cup tie was an inconvenience when measured beside his club's quest for promotion.

The early stages offered little evidence of an upset but McMenamin fired Dundee in to the lead after a remarkable mistake by Boruc.

Loovens' header from a Shunsuke Nakamura corner failed to go out of play and O'Brien brought the ball up from defence past Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink before he sent a long ball towards the former Livingston striker.

Boruc won the race but his fresh-air kick at the edge of his penalty area allowed McMenamin to score the easiest goal of his career as he knocked the ball into an empty net.

As Celtic pressed for the equaliser, Scott McDonald had another shot which bounced off Jim Lauchlan's head before McGeady fired into the arms of former Parkhead keeper Douglas from the rebound.

But eventually the home side drew level and it was the tireless Brown who was involved in the build-up and the finish.

The former Hibernian player drove down the left and into the Dundee box before pulling the ball back to McDonald.

The Celtic striker mis-hit his shot from 14 yards but the ball appeared to ricochet off several Dundee defenders to land in front of Brown who slipped it past Douglas from close range.

The goal calmed down the Celtic fans and players and in the 44th minute McGeady picked up a Lee Naylor pass cut in from the left past David Cowan and curled a wonderful shot from the edge of the box high past Douglas to take the home side into an interval lead.

Celtic looked more relaxed in the early stages of the second half as they piled forward looking for the clinching goal.

But Dundee had not yet accepted their fate and in the 51st minute O'Brien's cross from the left was helped on by McMenamin but this time Boruc kept his eye firmly on the ball.

Moments later McGeady, inventive and enthusiastic, had an effort from 20 yards tipped over the bar by Douglas, with the Taysiders resolutely defending the set-piece and with that, the home side regained the initiative.

Barry Robson replaced Marc Crosas in the 64th minute and seconds later Douglas was required to pull off a fine save from Vennegoor of Hesselink's drive after the Dutchman had been put through by Nakamura's incisive pass.

With only one goal between the sides there was always the chance of an equaliser for the Dens Park side but it was McDonald who messed up another half-decent chance when he chipped over the bar from the edge of the box after turning Lauchlan.

It was clearly not McDonald's day, the Australian international then created a yard of space after taking a Nakamura pass to curl in a shot from 12 yards but the ball went inches wide.

In the final minute Boruc dramatically spilled a cross from McMenamin a yard from the line but Loovens cleared the danger to the relief of the Hoops fans.

RTE