Johan Mjallby made sure Celtic's championship party can still go ahead on Saturday.

The Swede upstaged fellow countryman Henrik Larsson to score the goal that sunk Dundee, who had looked like coming away with a deserved draw.

Juan Sara's second-half equaliser, which wiped out Tommy Johnson's opener, had looked like cancelling the weekend celebration plans as well.

But Celtic's reaction to that blow was to send centre-back Mjallby up front and he duly supplied the winner.

The Scottish Premier League title will be theirs by 3pm on Saturday provided bottom club St Mirren are beaten at Parkhead.

It did not take Celtic long to take the lead - six minutes was all that was needed.

Alan Thompson began the move with a long ball down the left wing that found Larsson in more space than any defence should allow.

He diverted the ball into the box where Johnson scuffed the ball past Jamie Langfield, who was playing because first-choice goalkeeper Marco Roccati had been injured in the warm-up.

Dens Park boss Ivano Bonetti had turned down the young Scot's transfer request because he thought he had the potential to oust Roccati. It happened sooner than anyone had thought.

Langfield was required in the very first minute when the magnificent Lubo Moravcik, the only change to the starting line-up from Sunday, put Larsson through a lumbering back line.

Langfield did well to block with his body and not long after had to hack away when Chris Coyne gave him a dud backpass.

Then he had to save when Mjallby and Barry Smith challenged for a header in the box and the ball fell kindly for the Swede to volley goalward from an angle.

Then came the Johnson goal and Dundee spent most of the rest of the half hanging on.

Larsson fired a free-kick over then cut inside to fire disappointingly wide. Then the Swede saw the ball break straight to Johnson following a challenge in the box but the Englishman could only produce an air shot right in front of goal.

Didier Agathe, the scorer of Sunday's winner at Pittodrie, beat both Beto Garrido and Marcello Marrocco with a burst of speed down the right and his cross fell for Moravcik on the edge of the area.

But the playmaker could not keep up his high standards in the shooting department and the ball flew well over.

Chances had been few at the other end but Claudio Caniggia, the man Martin O'Neill insisted he admired but had not tried to buy, was a constant menace.

Giorgi Nemsadze's ball down the middle of the Celtic defence found the Argentinian but the ball bounced away from him off his arm.

When a corner was arrowed in from the right not long after it was Caniggia who rose to head across goal and wide.

But the star striker did not reappear after the break, with fellow countryman Fabian Caballero coming on in his place for his second stint since recovering from a serious knee injury sustained early in the season.

The switch almost paid instant dividends when Javier Artero raced away down the right and it needed former Dundee keeper Rob Douglas to dive forward and scoop the ball away before Caballero could pounce.

Douglas made a competent save from Garrido, tipping away his drive for a corner.

Agathe fired a shot wide from similar distance but Dundee had begun to get a grip on the game, pinning the home team back for long periods.

A goal was coming and Nemsadze provided it, lifting the ball into the box for the onrushing Sara to prod past the exposed Douglas. Suddenly it was 1-1 and the championship party was on hold.

Celtic's nerves were frayed and the visitors continued to make them worry.

Beto Carranza, who had come on for Garrido, fired a free-kick straight through the wall and Douglas had to scramble to make sure it went wide.

Something special was needed and O'Neill's answer was to send Mjallby up as an extra striker.

And it worked as Larsson put Mjallby through and Smith hauled him back before he could reach the area. Smith was sent off and Thompson fired the free-kick off a post.

Was it to be Dundee's night after all? Mjallby had the answer when, following an almighty back-post scramble from a corner, he forced the ball in. The game was theirs once more.

Celtic had overcome a sticky patch to grind out yet another result and now the title must surely also be theirs on Saturday.

As for Dundee, they once again played well against Celtic but lost.

They must now win at Aberdeen on Saturday and hope Dunfermline lose at Kilmarnock to finish in the top six.

Teams:

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Vega, Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Moravcik (Boyd 72), Thompson, Johnson (McNamara 62),Larsson.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Healy, Crainey.Booked: Lennon.

Goals: Johnson 5, Mjallby 84.

Dundee: Langfield, Smith, Marrocco, Tweed, Coyne, Artero, Nemsadze, Rae, Garrido (Carranza 58), Sara (Khizanishvili 83), Caniggia (Caballero 46).

Subs Not Used: Fatello.

Sent Off: Smith (81).

Booked: Tweed, Marrocco, Artero.

Goals: Sara 67.

Att: 59,562

Ref: D McDonald (Scotland).