Celtic goalkeeper Jonathan Gould made a sensational blunder to hand Dundee a share of the spoils at Parkhead and put Rangers just one point away from retaining the Premier League championship.

After Celtic fought back from Francisco Luna's early header to take the lead with goals from Stephane Mahe and Mark Burchill, Gould gifted the visitors an equaliser by somehow spilling the ball into his own goal.

That shocking mistake left Celtic an astonishing 18 points behind their Old Firm rivals Rangers with just six games remaining while Dundee secured a vital point in their bid to stay clear of an end of season play-off at the bottom.

The result came after a hectic week behind the scenes at Parkhead regarding the head coach's situation.

Celtic chief executive Allan MacDonald had more talks with Dutch coach Guus Hiddink yesterday over the management position but whoever takes control will have a difficult job on the basis of today's showing.

Dundee stunned the home crowd into silence after just one minute of the game when Eddie Annand's cross was met by Luna with all the time in the world to head powerfully past Gould.

Celtic looked rattled and Luna again found space in the area and only a desperate challenge from Vidar Riseth prevented the little Spaniard from hitting the target.

It took nine minutes for the home side to trouble Dundee goalkeeper Robert Douglas when Mahe picked out Jackie McNamara in the box, but his shot was comfortably saved by Douglas.

Celtic's frustrations increased in the 19th minute when Mahe was booked for a foul on Javier Artero as the home defence was struggling to keep tabs on Annand and the lively Luna.

Stilian Petrov then orchestrated a chance for himself in the 25th minute when he twisted and turned in the box to make himself room to shoot, but his effort whistled just past the post.

But this lifted Celtic and in the 27th minute, Mark Burchill had a tremendous opportunity to equalise when he was put through by Eyal Berkovic, but his effort was blocked by the feet of Douglas.

However, Celtic were on level terms in the 31st minute when Australian striker Viduka got to the by-line and his cross was headed emphatically home at the far post by Mahe.

Dundee defender then went into the referee's book when he brought down Burchill who was threatening to bare down on goal after Berkovic's beautifully-weighted through ball.

From the resulting free kick Viduka hit a curling effort around the Dundee wall but Douglas got down low to his left to deny him.

However, Celtic did take the lead on the stroke of half time when Berkovic again played Burchill through and the youngster made no mistake this time to shoot past Douglas.

The Parkhead faithful were left stunned again in the 54th minute when Dundee were gifted an equaliser following an incredible blunder from Scotland international goalkeeper Gould.

Artero crossed from the left and Gould appeared to comfortably collect a poor header from substitute Graham Bayne and had it firmly in his grasp but inexplicably let it slip out and into his goal.

This amazing reprieve spurred the visitors on and Annand headed over from Lee Maddison's centre and they could sense that they could walk away with the full points.

Gould was again called into action in the 70th minute and did a much better job of it this time, blocking a powerful long-range effort from Patrizio Billio after Johan Mjallby's poor clearance.

But Celtic retaliated and Berkovic fired inches past the upright in the 72nd minute after McNamara had picked him out in acres of room on the edge of the box.

Burchill then wasted a great chance when he ran down on goal and had just Douglas to beat but he appeared to get caught in two minds whether to chip or fire low but instead his effort sailed into the arms of the grateful keeper.

Substitute Stephen Crainey then went close with a fantastic 22-yard free-kick that Douglas pushed over under his post but the referee amazingly gave the goal kick - much to the annoyance of the fans.

Burchill went for glory in the 83rd minute when he was one-on-one with Douglas and had substitute Fernando de Ornelas to his left but he chose to go it alone and aimed aimlessly wide of the target.

The players were booed off the park by nearly 47,000 frustrated supporters at the final whistle and will be hoping Hiddink or whoever takes the reins at the club can dramatically turn the club's fortunes around.

Teams:

Celtic: Gould, Riseth, Mjallby, Tebily, McNamara (de Ornelan 81), Berkovic, Petrov, Blinker, Mahe (Crainey 61), Burchill, Viduka.

Subs Not Used: Kerr, Moravcik, Healy.

Booked: Mahe, Petrov, McNamara.

Goals: Mahe 30, Burchill 45.

Dundee: Douglas, Smith, Wilkie, Ireland, Maddison, Rae (Miller 87), Artero (Boyack 74), Billio, McSkimming (Bayne 46), Annand, Luna.

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Tweed.

Booked: Wilkie, Luna.

Goals: Luna 1, Gould 54 og.

Att: 47,163

Ref: Stewart Dougal (Glasgow).