Celtic did enough in the opening 16 minutes to put this game beyond Dundee United but only managed to score once, an excellent effort from Gary Hooper, before United tightened up and made a contest of the game.
Georgios Samaras sprung past the United defence inside the first 30 seconds and squared the ball across the six yard line but Stokes arrived a split-second late to convert. That signalled a period of relentless Celtic pressure as the home team found it impossible to get out of their own half or hodl any kind of possession.
Gary Hooper controlled a long clearlance inside the centre circle on 12 minutes before knocking the ball square to James Forrest, who had space to exploit. Forrest drove forward before returning the pass to Hooper inside the box. The Celtic striker turned outside Gunning before driving a shot low inside Dusan Pernis’ right had post to open the scoring.
Celtic continued to press forward with Forrest again involved in their most dangerous moves. The young winger threaded a through ball to Anthony Stokes on the edge of the area before racing past the defensive line to meet the return pass on the volley but his shot struck Pernis.
Give-and-go football was proving effective for Celtic and on 41 minutes Cha Du-Ri played a one-two with Forrest but could not convert his shot.
Celtic were so dominant in the first half their only real concern must have been why they were not further ahead but the second half proved to be more of a contest. Dundee United’s passing was poor all afternoon but Celtic slipped to their level, frequently succumbing to unforced errors. The visitors were never in any trouble defensively but Neil Lennon decided to shake things up in midfield, and substituted central defender, Glenn Loovens, pulled Victor Wanyama back and brought Scott Brown into midfield.
The subsequent change, bringing Ki on for Stokes gave Celtic more athleticism and meant that the final few minutes, which are often tense when defending a one goal lead, were contested almost exclusively in the United half. Fraser Forster had a few catches and the odd punch but had a relatively easy afternoon.
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Hoops
Big Vic 67
hail hail
The weekend starts when Celtic win an away game.
Big Dans Tats
Indio
i like the wording on all the reports about the Aluko dive
“The penalty was awarded by referee Steve Conroy when Rangers were already a goal up, ”
as if the big point is not the dive but “rangers were already a goal up” is the main point here
as if the dive would only matter if it was 0-0 or 1-1 but with them “already a goal up” its not that big a deal
the only word missing at the end of that sentence is Timmy.
Paul67,that odd punch,was his best in a Celtic jersey..
Coors Fae Londonderry does it again!
V
Great 3 points
5 SPL victories in a row !
.
Hoops Top of the SPL Goalscorers..
Summa
ItaliaBhoy says:
4 December, 2011 at 15:14
Paper exercise.
Three points already awarded – job done.
1-0 from now until end of the season….that would hurt some folk…badly – ha!
3 points is the the main thing but we made very hard work of beating the crappest DU team ever .
Did they have one serious attempt on goal?
Vmhan,not bad fae a ‘hun’..you can bully me all day long,you big hansome fenian..lol
Just hope we are now not going to accommodate Scott Brown at all costs and change the team shape.
Who is to be sacrificed for the next game?
Great 3pts, making it 5 league wins on the trot.
Some great performers today, but Vic67 is something extra.
Scot Brown looked rusty when he came on.
Bring on the minis…
Also, as well as looking into THE penalty, the Scottish FA should also ask referee Steve Conroy how is it possible in a competitive game that only one foul was given against rANGERs in the whole game.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS says:
4 December, 2011 at 15:26
Summa of Sammi…. says:
4 December, 2011 at 15:18
.
Bobby Murdoch..
Cloggy Sheila’s are Tops..
Summa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aye,absolutely correct.
If I’d known then what I know now,I might have stuck wi one of them. Doubt it tough.
Wouldn’t really wish to subject a really nice lass to my debauched lifestyle.
A criminal disgrace that I subject myself to it,TBH!
Superb win today – pity it wasnt more but I never felt threatened throughout.
C’mon the Celts – but a good striker in the window and we will win this league.
Was awau for the weekend so I missed the so called hun penalty – not like em eh!!!
Kojo
4 December, 2011 at 15:18
Think Vic being moved back tae let Broonie get a run out shows two things for me,firstly that he has complete trust in Big Vic tae play at the back .
Secondly an more worrying for me is that move looks the route back in tae the first team for Broonie ie a permanent step back in tae the back four for Vic.
Vic n Kayal as a partnership are as good as any central midfield that Celtic have deployed in ma time watching Celtic all be it based on a limited number of performances.
Breaking that up to accommodate Brown is a mistake,Brown should stay on the bench till losss of form or injury lets him back in.
Really pleased wae the result, nitpicking our shys are rank amateur Matthews should be taken aff corner kick duty.
Sunday roast time here in Denia – thanks for the updates for those who posted during the game. My sense from what was posted that the team started out well fired up and took the game to Utd. And then, like has happened several times this season, the form slumped for no obvious reason allowing a comfortable game to become a tense one.
Anyway, a win is a win is a win. have a good evening.
Quite a few on the blog today are hurting bad……….
Vinny says: 4 December, 2011 at 14:09
Lighting up amigo and you will enjoy the site much more.
:-) Means the comment is in humour and welcome means eh, welcome.
On another note it would appear that there is a few hurting ‘Attilas’ on here having wee sly digs. Magic, as it lets me know they are suffering.
Mick says:
4 December, 2011 at 15:12
Sorry Mick, I’m the same – far too handsome to be a hun.
We should have been comfortably out of sight by half time.
Surprisingly there was little or no pressure on us second half.
Did the front two and Samaras think their first half performance warranted a wee rest for the last 45 minites.
Big Dan was a rock today and was ably assisted by Victor and Kayal.
Let’s keep the momentum going till April May.
‘GG
Missed the first half , wish I’d missed the second but 3 pts more than welcome
Just been on TV…
MON at Celtic
2000-2005
Pld W D L Win%
282 213 29 40 76%
NL has a higher % i think.
Is that correct ?
Who is to be sacrificed for the next game?
Just to appease the gods presumably.
the exiled tim 1531
Ah,let them wallow in their misery.
Misery loves company,as my Mum-who loves her wee cliches-is wont to say!
Tannadice in December, clean sheet for Celtic, three points, no obvious injuries, no red cards, no distracting scandals.
I’m sure we’d all have signed on the bottom line for that when the magic SPL computer produced this fixture.
We are now three points further ahead of second-placed Motherwell and a big step closer to the title.
Bring it on.
Topcorner that piece of skill by Anthony was top drawer, big Kenneth was bamboozled by it. As you said very much Aidan-esque.
is Ki our designated free-kick n corner guy ?
if so, who is after him when, for example, he is sub ?
it occurred to me in the last 5 mins we could loose a goal but it never felt like a distinct possibility..I thought we had a grip for the 90 mins..
northerncelt67
phew
thought i was the only one who saw it there for a bit
thought marbles were lost
haha
yep, it was a la Ronaldinho
few degrees warmer, he may have been given a mention
:)
Lads today was kayal’s best performance in a Celtic shirt.
I like Stokes…just a pity he has no pace..great feet, good striker but S-L-O-W as …
3, THREE, beautiful, democratic points, on the road, in the frozen North and a clean sheet.
Really happy for the Bhoys.
Both colour and sound on the wireless wasn’t great in the second half, but we didn’t give in and we didn’t surrender.
;)
HHH.
“European hangover” game navigated successfully. Squad rotation by including Cha worked. Winning 1-0, while scoring an early goal tells you as much about the team as winning 5-0 does. Concentration and application are evident too. A good day in all, keeping up the pressure on the dignified rowing club.