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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Blizzard conditions are giving way to clear skies, here in North Ayrshire this morning.
Can’t believe they’re actually going to have a look at Aluko’s dive.
Or, “bit of a dive”, as Traynor delicately put it.
I just came across this little gem from the less than accurate Traynor:
” RANGERS will be given an immediate cash injection of £9m if Craig Whyte succeeds in buying Rangers.”
April 2011
Could someone cut and paste the Traynor piece on Aluko? (Unless Summa`s 9.24 post is the article)? I want to compare it with his stuff on Aiden ” Cheating”.
JJ
murdochbhoy says:
5 December, 2011 at 08:11
‘I do have a concern this morning. Has anybody noticed that Stokes rarely passes to Samaras or is it just me?’
I get the feeling about this squad that none of them would die in a ditch for any of the others.
Too many of them are quick to look to point the finger at team mates when something goes wrong.
And we never seem to have more than two or three players playing to the best of their ability at any one time.
Probably down to the relative youth and inexperience of the management team.
Lovin’ Celtic right now
Lovin’ Kayal – Great to see you back to your best Biram, I must admit I had lost faith in you, my bad
Lovin’ Victor – Neil Lennon/Bobo combo
Lovin’ Dan – Looking more like the big bad Dan we all craved.
Lovin’ Forrest – Match winner, comparisons with Dalglish vision and awareness not unfounded imo
Lovin’ Stokesy – has taken it upon himself to lead the forward line and it is he who has raised the bar for hooper to reach this season
Lovin’ Lenny (as always) – wonderful to see him come through this spell. His players have responded. Do some of us owe him an apology?
ernie
An unusually negative and generalised post from you.
JJ
From BBC
Celtic manager Neil Lennon is believed to have promised goalkeeper Daniel Majstorovic a new contract if he continues his current run of good form.
Full story: Daily Mail
There’s the problem.
playedoutofposition4dguildersCSC
Jungle Jim says:
5 December, 2011 at 09:54
I’m calling it as I see it.
What about the penalty we should have had when Cha was upended in the box?
Are we the only team in this god forsaken league that has to pass AROUND the referee week after week ? It’s a particular bugbear of mine, and I thought Thompson yesterday was the worst I’ve seen for quite some time. Move after move on the edge of the Dundee Utd Penalty area he was continually in the middle of our passing, forcing our players to take an extra touch just to get round him before they could make the pass !
Theres been quite a few Celtic players booked for diving when replays showed that they were NOT fouled.
Henrik , Maloney ,McGeady and others.
Dodgy refereeing???
I dont know how this compares to the huns.
.
Sorry for the Confusion Bhoys..
It was From Rankers Media..One of there Better Websites..
Trying to Show How off the Mark their Thinking is to Ours..and of Course the Good Olde BBC..
Summa
PS..In Holland they Started Using TV Evidence 22 Yrs ago to ‘Fix’ Injustices like this..Obviously the Bigger the Team the More likely the TV Evidence..
jhilday,
The ref clearly played advantage. Cha got a clear advantage by shooting over the bar! Or something like that.
How many times does a forward get booked for sliding in on a defender who is clearing the ball up field?
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:05
jhilday,
The ref clearly played advantage. Cha got a clear advantage by shooting over the bar! Or something like that.
How many times does a forward get booked for sliding in on a defender who is clearing the ball up field?
Forrest got sent off at the infamous Hamilton game for the same tackle.
Henriks Sombrero
And he(Thompson) has that stupid smile on his face as makes his wrong decisions.
Giving a handball against Victor when the ball was hit against his arm and then not doing the same when a DU player handled twice.
Mort says:
5 December, 2011 at 09:27
I was just about to mention that.
So in future can we just plough through the back of players as long as they haven’t got the ball at their feet?
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:05
……….How many times does a forward get booked for sliding in on a defender who is clearing the ball up field?
Something that really annoys me – the number of times a foul (late tackle) is allowed to go unpunished because the advantage rule has been applied by the MIB.
One example from yesterday – Mathews was caught by a DU attacker when attempting to clear a ball that was clearly offside. The linesman only raised his flag when the player became active – i.e. when he caught Mathews!
Interesting that when watching Italian football – refs often go back and book a player who fouled in a play-on situation – seen them book a player even when the other team have scored.
No wonder so few of our MIBs get UEFA/ FIFA gigs.
SFA
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:05
jhilday,
The ref clearly played advantage. Cha got a clear advantage by shooting over the bar! Or something like that.
————
Begg and Dodds said as much on Shortbread.
“He got his shot away. No penalty.’
It was well over but it does not matter. I heard it on the BBC it must be right.
ernie,
You always do but thay one seemed unusual. I find it hard to believe that Celtic players, ALL of them, shift the blame. I see it as more of a desire for improvement and that they are pointing out things to each other with the intention of bettering the performance.
JJ
my nieces favourite family guy
goggybhoy.
When I saw the incident “live” I thought no penalty. Having seen it several times in slow motion I can’t decide.
I always try to look at these things this way.
If said incident had resulted in a penalty against us how would I feel.
I think I’d have been outraged.
53
Very happy with yesterdays performance and I really feel we are building a momentum. I would happily give Big Dan another year on current form and if it is they key to him keeping up his form for the season then it will be worth it. I see Lenny said he’s had a family bereavement to deal with recently which I suppose puts things in context. Earning thousands of pounds doesn’t make you immune to the trials and tribulations of life.
praecepta,
There was an interesting one in the Newcastle – Chelsea match yesterday when a Newcaste player committed a bad foul but play was waved on. The game stooped when the same player put in another bad tackle. The ref did book him but could he have received two yellow cards for this?
where are they all?
stephenpollock, you out there?
UC
DIVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s20sSrmnzhc&sns=fb
DIVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r7vzo4R3YE&feature=related
DIVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7s19WpllNQ&feature=related
ALUKO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/16025163.stm
re Cha incident.
Just as he was about to ping it, I hoped he’d just nip a touch on the ball. The defender was always clattering him and once a shot was fired off, there was no way the MIB was giving a penalty.
Begg/Dodds comments are quite funny to consider. At what point would he feel that a foul should/could have been given? There must clearly be a window where late/poor tackles are allowed?
I mean, let’s say that the Utd player took Cha out just before he took the shot – penalty?
When he’s shooting – penalty?
Immediately after the shot – no penalty?
3 seconds later – no penalty (as he’d got the shot away)?
10 seconds later – penalty?
I’d really like them to show me, using a slide rule perhaps, what period of time fouling a player somehow becomes ‘not a foul’.
Even if Thomson is dropped to a lower league for a few games, the damage has been done. R@ngers have a 4 pt lead instead of the 2 pt lead they should have had and everyone else has been cheated.
FUNNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er-5pqbSdWw
Jungle Jim says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:27
‘I find it hard to believe that Celtic players, ALL of them, shift the blame.’
I wouldn’t say it was that extreme.
Some of them just seem too quick at times to want to get a dig in at their team mates.
It’s like the squad haven’t fully gelled.
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:37
If both of them were worthy of yellow cards and in quite close proximity, in terms of time lapsed, then the ref could feasibly and reasonably dish out a red card for serious foul play.
You often see players getting away with a first lunged tackle if a good advantage is gained by the opposing team, only for the same player to lunge in again. By player, I mean Barry Ferguson. In this instance, the two players fouled should receive cautions.
glendalystonsils says:
5 December, 2011 at 10:43
Thomson reffed our game; Conroy, theirs.
Good win yesterday – the old cliché about “these are the types of results that win leagues” seems apt.
Just watched the Aluko “incident” – stunned. But it’s alright, we have a new transparent disciplinary process.
13-Aug Rangers A ICT Tokely tackles Naismith and wins the ball, Tokely sent off and pen for Rangers 1-0
13-Aug Rangers A ICT Goian dives to win a penalty to make it 2-0 and game safe
27-Aug Celtic A St Mirren Stokes has goal disallowed for nothing – a baffling decision at 0-0
10-Sep Rangers A Dundee Utd Dundee Utd denied a clear pen and player booked for diving at 0-0
21-Sep Rangers A Falkirk Rangers equaliser with 3 mins to go after Falkirk keeper fouled twice in the build up
24-Sep Rangers A Dunfermline Brines sees Naismith elbow McCann in the head and does nothing. Naismith goes onto score 2 ( banned retrospectively)
15-Oct Rangers H St Mirren McCulloch blatant foul in lead up to Ranegrs goal.
29-Oct Rangers A Aberdeen Clear penalty denied at 0-0 for Aberdeen. Rangers get theirs and also get Aberdeen man sent off. Naismith no card for reckless tackle in the “incident” he hurts his wee knee.
03-Dec Rangers H Dunfermline Aluko dives to win a penalty – literally tripped over a blade of grass to put Rangers 2-0 up and safe
They are all just “Honest Mistakes” remember.
But only 1 team ever benefits. Hmmm
HH
TLK
Ole Emile Heskey shoots…………………………
Throw in, to Man Utd.
Oh well, never mind
MatchOfTheDay csc
I’m not usually one to comment on hun pens, but that is shocking, even by their standards! 1) Run into box 2) Fall over.
Cheating bleep bleeptard.
2 match ban INEVITABLE; the ref should be demoted to the lower leagues while they’re at it.