Two early goals by Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama were enough to overcome Dundee United at Celtic Park today but a cracking strike by John Rankin early in the second half ensured the table toppers had to fight all the way.
Anthony Stokes had an early opportunity to test Pernis in the United goal with a free kick, as is often the case with Anthony’s free kicks, he struck the defensive wall. United had the best chance of the opening exchanges after 7 minutes but Fraser Forster denied Garry Kenneth at his near post after a goalmouth scramble. The visitors kept the pressure on for the next few minutes but were to concede soon thereafter.
Thomas Rogne cleared his lines with a defensive header which Stokes won with an aerial challenge and reacted first to prod the ball forward to an alert Gary Hooper. Hooper made the most of the space available, opened his body and placed an immaculately measured shot inside the right post to put Celtic ahead.
Five minutes later Georgios Samaras earned hearty applause throughout the stadium for a robust challenge on Willo Flood before forcing Pernis to turn a shot behind. The resulting corner was played short to Izaguirre who through a deep and high cross into the box. Victor Wanyama was first to react and seemed to have jumped early but he somehow managed to hover a millisecond long enough to be level with the ball when he met it before propelling it high into the top left corner of the goal.
Shortly before half time Stokes had another opportunity from a free kick. John Rankin broke early from the wall, raised his arm and blocked inside the penalty box. Referee, Winter, penalised the player for breaking the wall and ordered a retake, not a penalty. Stokes had two opportunities to make the points safe within a minute of the break. He met a Mulgrew corner on the six yards line with a glancing header that went narrowly passed the far post. Pernis then denied an excellent Stokes strike with a fine save.
The Celtic defence had not lost a goal in eight domestic games before today and could do little about the goal that put United back in the contest. John Rankin struck from 26 yards, the ball clipped the inside of Fraser Forster’s right hand post and bounced in. Shortly before the hour mark John Daly had Dundee United’s best chance of the game but Forster was equal to his header.
Georgios Samaras had Celtic’s best two chances of the second half. The first a diving header from a Matthews cross which was saved by Pernis. The second a cross from Matthews which Samaras pulled down with his chest before shooting over.
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DBBIA
I may well do if they win the title this season, but for now I am sticking with Man Utd whom I have been following ever since they won the title last season:-)
kitalba says:
15 January, 2012 at 09:02
are you saying that Neil Lennon is a puppet to the bean counters? If so I find that hard to reconcile the Neil Lennon that wore the Jersey and the Neil Lennon that was assualted by a Hearts fan and who faced down bombs bullets and threats against his family just so he could be Peter Lawwell’s bitch.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Everybody has a boss. PL is Neil’s ?
Hail! Hail1
Twists:
there you go, we were both right.
Kev:
I had a boss last week, I thought he was intefering too much with what we as a company were trying to achieve. I resigned, he offered me a 25% pay rise to change my mind, I said I was flattered and wished him luck and emptied my desk. I start a new job in the morning on less money than what I was on. Money was never an issue, morals and ethics was all, I don’t really know Neil Lennon but what little I know tells me he, like me, is nobodies bitch.
Off oot.
Fholk to see.
May God Bless ‘Every’ Celtic Fan.
DBBBIA careful with the auld weather updates in case ye upset some poor soul!
I noticed summit going on over at 114, what was it about?
Twists n Turns great memories, I still have my match ticket for the game and my abiding memory was the competition between the Celtic end and the rangers end for the singing… It was a draw lol.
136,505 plus another 10,000 over the wall, through the turnstiles etc.
Vinny
Another important 3 points yesterday.
We sorely missed the positive and direct play we get from James Forrest. Broony put in a shift but a right winger he is not.
United dictated play in the second half and it wasn’t helped with us being a man short in central midfield. That said, we restricted their tidy possession play to very few opportunities.
KI came on and showed again why he is not getting a start. He seems to be on the periphery of the game and doean’t put in enough of a shift when the opposition have possession – certainly not a man you want in the trenches when the going gets tough.
IN fact, many of the team looked out-of-sorts in the second half. You would have thought we were playing yesterday having come off the back of a tough European away game. United seemed to be first to every ball and always had a man spare to take a pass. It made for a very uncomfortable 2nd period.
But the three points are safe and that’s all that matters.
If United put in a shift like that against the orcs in the Cup they could go through.
Vmhan:
If I’m not mistaken, that crowd that night still stands as the record crowd for any game ever played under flood lights. I was up the Celtic end and off to my left, the main stand side, the gates were breached and the police were powerless to stop those outside pouring in.
Vmhan- daft bhoys fighting amongst themselves.
They all got lifted.
Then the rest of us settled down to enjoy the game like gentlemen.
Ciao–
Buona Domenica tutti——
Yesterday—- we won , we got 3 points . 11 in a row. Good first half, poor second half. Profligate.. Brown does not float my boat. Onwards and upwards .
Went to last night’s Catania – Roma game . Game abandoned after 65 minutes [ 1-1 ] due to a monsoon. Primarily went to see Roma’s -Lamela ——19 million euros worth of Argentinian wonderboy —–man –he can play football. Maxi Lopez did not play for Catania—– he is rumored to be going to Fulham or Liverpool -10 million euros.
Italian media [ who know a lot about corruption in football ] report this wee story.—
Wee midweek friendly ,played in Turkey, between Werder Bremen and AZ Alkmaar—— big bets on Werder winning 2-1., big bets on there being 3 goals. Game due to be refereed by a designated Bulgarian but he arranged to beat it to Argentina after arranging for another Bulgarian Ref to take the game.Neither Referee bothered to inform the relevant authorities of the switch. Score was 2-1. . The switch only came to light when the manager of Werder Bremen complained about the Referee’s strange decision to allow 10 mins of injury time–.
Sunny but cold -way down south.
Modren designated Bulgarians is rubbish.
Good morning frineds from a very calm, cold and frosty (minus 3) East Kilbride.
A hard fought victory yesterday and still top of the league. Life’s good.
Jobo
Morning all from a brightening North Ayrshire. We might even see the sun today.
I mentioned various players last night, whom I would build the team around. Other names were mentioned, like Ledley, Rogne and Forrest. Those are definitely essential to our future, imo particularly Rogne. He looks the part.
I would even keep our captain for what he contributes in the SPL. We need someone like him to combat the hammer throwers and also for his ability to encourage the others. What I would love us to acquire is a wee Bertie type, who has the experience to guide the young lhads, and preferably he would be someone who has a love of the club. That isn’t too important, as Mr Stein did exactly that when he came to us from Wales. Is there such a player around?
Parkheadcumsalford says:
15 January, 2012 at 09:44
I fear wee Bertie is one of a kind. If Celtic had him to call on, other teams would not be kicking Celtic players with impunity!
DBBIA ——-
Have you seen ——– ?
Modern Life is Rubbish .
A great wee film starring Timothy Spall’s boy. A poignant wee tale about about a separating couple sorting out who gets to keep what as they sort out ownership of their CD collection
Cultsbhoy
Thanks for you considered reply to my questions of you.
I now understand exactly were you are coming from re. The dropping standards of CQN. Didnt realise you were talking about yourself and your ability to cast generalisations without want to back up hour aspersions without fact. In future I’m sure we can all match your standards.
Hence why I am now calling you a Hun. A CQN fact that is based on nothing but instinct even though I do have an underlying niggling feeling you might be a Tim. But hey. I’m only keeping to the standards you demonstrate.
HamiltonTim
Knowing where you work I’m surprised there are only 4 Celtic supporting colleagues.
With regards your wee survey. My position is not that that you put to your colleagues.
My position is if a Newco parachuted back into the SPL no matter the level of penalty and it is shown that our club does not do all it can (by that I want to see more than them just saying we voted against it) then I will refrain from passing my hard earned money to them until such time as the PLC are gone. I want to see the club question the integrity of the SPL, I want to see them employ a QC of standing (not PMcB) to look at the SPL rules and articles and provide the support with a public opinion as to how a Newco can be afforded a parachute back in. I don’t want to see them hide behind a wee statement saying they have done so.
Then I’ll be expecting an unequivocal statement from them that they will lobby UEFA with a view to being allowed to leave the SPL.
MWD
MWD
MWD
Parkheadcumsalford says:
15 January, 2012 at 09:44
I give your 33 years old Barry Robson
guts, guile and goals AND already a great Celt in my book
HH
M
They reckoned Sprake faked injury that night cos he couldn’t handle the atmosphere. I remember when Harvey came on his first touch was to pick the ball out off the back of the net. I loved my Da for bringing me to that game
SofTunis- seen it?
I’m livin’ it!
I think Barry Robson is a good shout, although unlikely if ‘Boro get promotion back to the EPL.
I also would not be upset if Stan Petrov came back, although I might be in the minority.
Again.
Barry Robson a great?
Decent player but you could put up an argument he wasnt even a first teamer, 31 appearences in two years a shoulder challenge, penalty and heider does not make a ‘great.’
If yesterday’s game showed us anything at all, it showed us how reliant we are on young James Forrest to create chances.
We have a plethora of midfield players who are strong running, reliable passers, able to keep the ball when in possession and difficult to get beyond when defending, but there was nothing from them in terms of the creative, the imaginative or even a little direct running save for the odd burst by Sammi. We rely on our full backs to get beyond our midfielders to stretch the opposition’s shape, and with Izzy recovering fitness and form, and young Matthews apparently under the weather, we really didn’t do very much with the ball.
I was very pleased with the attitude of Kris Commons when he came on. While he didn’t do much in the short time he was on in a creative sense, his workrate and aggression were a good signal as to his approach, now that he is fit again. I think we’ll be seeing more of him in the coming weeks.
Good shifts again from Rogne and Mulgrew, and further signs that Forster is developing into a decent keeper.
WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Morning Bhoys
Touristy question
Heading to Amsterdam at the end of April for a mates stag weekend. Looking for some tim friendly drinking establishments and any other things to keep us amused……apart from the obvious lol
Ps BJMac u causin bother again lol
Hail Hail
DBBIA ——–
I have a PTFC supporting pal whose wife claimed that the fact that he loved his 400 plus collection of Blue Beat Records 7 s more than he loved her was just one of her many reasons for saying -Goodbye.
He did not attempt to refute her claim.
Jobo…
…my wee one wants to know what a frined is?
:0)
Parkheadcumsalford says:
15 January, 2012 at 09:44
Clarence Clyde Seedorf even at 36…….
SofTunis – you can see shy even ole clever clogs Stephen Hawking struggles to understand ghirls.
Morning all. Long time lurker,great posts,as usual.
Just reading Steve Lomas comments re Sandaza…
“I do believe there should be a bit more leadership from the top at Rangers,” the St Johnstone boss said.
“Ally McCoist has got a difficult job because of the finances and he has had to follow Walter Smith, who is a legend, so he has a tough job but this wouldn’t happen if David Murray was at the club, he wouldn’t let it.
“Rangers are a big club but unfortunately they are behaving like a little one. We haven’t even had an offer.
“As a boy, I was a Rangers fan. They are great fans, the Rangers fans, and I’m sure they must be feeling slightly miffed that they can’t go out and pay for Fran Sandaza.
“I would be worried, especially a guy who is in the last months of his contract. I would be extremely worried if I was a Rangers fan.”
How long before the penny drops? Surely Murray IS the reaon they are in the state they are?
Philbhoy it’s someone who like you supports the Celtic.
Simples.com
V
Philbhly –
it involves a frying pan and a bottle of Buckfast… ;-)
Jobo
….but I don’t know what a Philbhly is although it does sound good!
Bojo
Kitalba I was in the wee stand for the game, defo looking out my match ticket today, can’t remember the price of the ticket lol
V
Thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s game. Very comfortable first half after what I thought was a lethargic start. I’m a Gary Hooper fan and I think he more than proved his value to Celtic. He put his goal away like a champion and he chased back to harry the opposition. He also played a brilliant 40 yard, defence splitting pass to Ki who for want of a better word chickened out of the challenge from the defender. Anthony Stokes also had a good game with his set up for Gary’s goal and he was unlucky that his rocket of a shot was a wee bit too direct making it saveable for the keeper. What about Victor Wanyama? Neil should be charged with grand larceny. Whatever he paid for Victor was not nearly enough. Victor is worth a fortune. He strode majestically through the game scoring a wonderful header. I also think that he likes playing for Celtic. He made that clear with his goal celebration.
We were on the back foot throughout the second half as Dundee United dominated and scored a great goal. The game played out a bit like the game against Killie a few weeks ago and the goal we lost in both games were very similar – very hard, low shots from about 23 yards. We need to eliminate this and I noticed that the DU players were practicing shooting from around the edge of the box before the game started. Perhaps opposition managers have identified a weakness in Celtic’s armoury. I think that in future when we are two goals up fairly early on we need to get the ‘killer’ third goal so that we can relax. Two is never enough.
I don’t know if Anthony Stokes was injured but I thought it was a mistake to take him off. We lost the benefit of Sammi who was playing well on the wing. He didn’t do nearly so well up front.
Just my thought on another very good result for Celtic.
Estadio Nacional says:
15 January, 2012 at 10:05
I will do you the courtesy of respeonding to you directly
aye you are right maybe I was a wee bit over -zealous then :-0 and maybe you are being a wee bit harsh distilling his contribution down to just a few things ..mebbes?
I know about his lack of touch and wayward passing and not a ‘great’ in the sense he was with us for very long or played great football
more about his contribution overall coming into the team in that late run-in, so it was the sense of the time and place and the passion in the mix of winning that league
he is an example of the type of player we are missing – and has something about him that I feel broony may lack -guile- and wee bertie had that too, so did Jock
if that makes any sense -it’s what I meant by a ‘great’ in my wee book
HH
M
McCOIST on the Sandanza “move”…..
“Could we try and get him now? I don’t know because I don’t know how much St
Johnstone would be looking for.
“I don’t know what [Saints chairman] Stephen Brown would want so that’s a
conversation Craig [Whyte] will maybe have, I don’t know.”
Ally if you know nothing say nothing. Anyway what can you say, “I do not know”
MWD
Morning honey :-))
Not 4 fellow Celts mate but 4 others who have season tickets. I haven’t stood at ‘Boot’s Corner’ canvassing opinion. I just find it strange that, outside of forums, I’ve yet to meet a Tim who would stop going.
Dyslexics network through Frineds Reunited