Celtic left it to the last possible moment to keep Scottish Cup hopes alive before going on to beat spirited Dundee 2-1 after extra-time at Parkhead.
The Taysiders, who have never won at Celtic Park in the competition and their last league victory in the east end of Glasgow was in 2001, looked to be on their way to a historic success when midfielder Ethan Hamilton thundered in his first Dundee goal in the 49th minute of the fifth-round tie.
The home side toiled thereafter but with effectively the last touch of the game which went beyond the five added minutes on the board, debutant Junior Adamu flicked in a dramatic leveller.
Substitute Sebastian Tounekti, who set up the goal, fired Celtic in front early in extra time and it was enough to take Martin O’Neill’s men into the quarter-final draw, bringing some much needed positivity to the club this week.
The home fans had been urged to stay away by the Celtic Fans Collective as a civil war between supporters and the club’s board continues.
The umbrella group of supporters demanded the departure of chief executive Michael Nicholson, the reinstatement of the banned Green Brigade and the restoration of club access to fan media groups.
The 60,000-capacity stadium was far from full, although the crowd was arguably healthy enough for a cup game played on a Saturday night and live on television.
Celtic confirmed the signing of 32-year-old former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a couple of hours before kick-off and he was introduced to supporters on the pitch ahead of the game before taking his place in the stand.
O’Neill made five changes as goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo, Auston Trusty, Paulo Bernardo and Reo Hatate returned, while there was a debut for 23-year-old loanee Joel Mvuka.
Celtic posed most of the early threat without looking sharp.
There was a VAR check for a home penalty in the 39th minute when Hoops striker Thomas Cvancara was fouled by Luke Graham but referee Ryan Lee’s decision to award a free-kick just outside the box stood.
Soon after the interval the determined Dens Park side forged ahead with a stunning goal.
After Cameron Congreve was tackled by Celtic’s Yang Hyun-jun, Hamilton picked up the loose ball and skipped past Hoops captain Callum McGregor before lasering a drive from 20 yards high past the helpless Sinisalo.
The home side instantly pushed for an equaliser, with Yang coming close with a shot from a Kieran Tierney cross before the former Arsenal defender’s close-range drive was parried away by Jon McCracken.
Adamu, the 24-year-old Austria forward on loan from Freiburg, replaced Cvancara to make his Celtic debut with 10 minutes remaining and he came up with the goods with pretty much the last kick of the game, flicking in a cross from Tounekti to take the game into extra time.
Dundee’s chance of a famous win was gone two minutes into extra time when Tounekti drilled the ball past McCracken at his near post.
McCracken saved a shot from substitute Benjamin Nygren with his foot as Celtic mostly controlled the game until the final whistle, aside from a last-gasp flurry from the visitors.
