GAVIN DUNCAN was the man in the middle as Celtic secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Dundee to open up a three-point gap with rivals Rangers at the Scottish Premiership’s summit.

Danny Mullen gave Ange Postecoglou’s side an early scare as the Dens Park striker headed in the opening goal at Parkhead before two goals in quick succession from Giorgos Giakoumakis swung the match in Celtic’s favour. A second-half header from Ryan Sweeney levelled the scores again before Giakoumakis added his third of the day with five minutes to go.

Duncan didn’t find himself with too many big calls to make in Glasgow but there are question marks over one or two of the whistler’s decisions.

Carl Starfelt found himself incurring Duncan’s wrath in the first half with a couple of cynical fouls but the referee correctly left it at that and didn’t brandish any cards.

On 33 minutes, Daizen Maeda came within inches of making it 3-1 to Celtic when the forward tried to prod home Giakoumakis’ dragged shot to no avail. The shot went wide in the end but Maeda was correctly considered to be onside.

Then, in the space of 10 seconds, two huge calls for Duncan. The first arrived when Josip Juranovic took a tumble in the box under pressure but the official waved play on – any penalty award would have been extremely harsh on Dundee.

The second, however, was less clear-cut. A chipped ball forward from Callum McGregor was floated in towards Giakoumakis and Maeda, and the Greek striker was clearly felled by Vontae Daley-Campbell, who made no attempt to play the ball. It could and perhaps should have been a spot-kick but Duncan saw nothing wrong with it.

Portuguese winger Jota had the ball in the back of the Dundee net minutes before Ryan Sweeney restored parity in Glasgow’s East End but the goal was correctly chopped off for offside as the 22-year-old mis-timed his run forward.

Cammy Kerr found himself in the book after bringing Liel Abada to the floor as Celtic looked to hit Dundee on the break on 83 minutes and the defnder could have few complaints.

The Dundee players were appealing for a penalty right at the death and they might have had a case as the ball struck the arm of Jota in the 93rd minute but were left disappointed as Duncan shook his head.  

All in all, Duncan can be mostly pleased with his performance but Celtic supporters have every right to feel aggrieved by the official’s decision not to award their side a penalty in the first half. The Dundee players will feel the same about their last-gasp appeal. That aside, Duncan didn’t do all that much wrong.