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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starry plough says:
4 December, 2011 at 16:58
Do you mean ,a flying tumbler?
No thanks:O)
im just back as it seems
bt
You drunk?
Fast approaching the halfway point of the season.
Halfway awards:
PotY: Forrest
YPotY: Forrest
The guy’s a frickin genius, tbh.
Discuss.
voguepunter says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:00
Right enough, Rutherglen must still be the same since I shot the craw…
Away support today was the best of the season, Gerry Hart on Celtic TV said we outnumbered the Arabs fans by three to one, well done the Hoops..
dirtymac
We will discuss ,your potty mouth.
vp
moi?
B-Obampot
Its odd because it seemed the polis had taken a less confrontational stance against the GB in the last 2 games.
voguepunter says:
4 December, 2011 at 16:37
Itis news to me that the Green Brigade are marxist, probably new to them as well. I was astonished when I read the article in Scotland on Sunday, this morning. My reading of the GB is that they are a crowd of very young ghuys who are dedicated to having a good time and bringing an atmosphere to Celtic Park. I think that 99.9% of the time they do this within the traditions of Celtic FC and I believe that the vast majority of the Celtic support are openly or tacitly supportive of the Green Brigade and would miss them if they were gone. If today’s revelation by SoS that Strathclyde Police have privately admitted that they are determined to smash the Green Brigade becomes known by the wider Celtic support then I can only see the Green Brigade’s numbers growing in the future.
Wow! The Green Brigade are a Marist organisation.
I never knew that
Met HamiltonTim at half time – he was very jealous of my hat.
Great 3 points.
hh
bjmac
Well done the bhoys today
And the management team
And the away support
Just seen a recording.
Result was never in doubt.
Thomson luckily got nothing major to deal with.
I want them humiliated on the 28th.
Their AGM is the day after.
And I have it on good authority that Craig Whyte is being discouraged from dressing up as Father Christmas.
HH
Dion Dublin had a few little tricks so as gain to space to receive the ball from throw ins when playing for Celtic. Maybe some of the back room staff picked up on them and could pass them on to our young strike force.
what I can’t get my head round is why do the police attack an orginisation who are anti everything yet
police orange walks?
Eddie Smith… etc,, arholes
Awe Naw
You are corect whytie will not be Santa….
Channel 4 are making a new programme called The Secret Billionaire. Craig Whyte is first up.
He will visit a deprived area (like Govan) and tell them at the start that he’s a billionaire and at the end surprise them and say he’s feckin skint!
Kittoch@16.57
Thanks for that.
The Exiled Tim
The Secret Billionaire in reverse ha ha .
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:08
Will he be dressed as the Grim Reaper though?
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:05
agree, this is not a police state,despite some politicians hopes.
Thought the GB were fantastic to-day. Love all those new chants
Harmless stuff.
bjmac
who do I make the cheque out to…?
blantyretim says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:11
how was wdh? even though the bass never remembers me.
I mean ,how can you forget this face?
RIP Socrates
Although he and his compadres couldn’t make it past Rossi and the Azzurri on ’82, he was a classy guy on and off the field.
Another part of our youth dies…
Liked the Gary Hooper song today…
Dirtymac
David McCallum circa 1975
HH
ItaliaBhoy says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:23
That is still my favourite non Celtic game,breathtaking.
Starry Plough
for you sir
Mother Nature’s Kitchen by The Kevin McDermott Orchestra
VP
he never turned up..
I am giving him a hard time as now
he is a lucky bhoy if he doesn’t remember you btw… o))
I have been in PV today..
and as if by magic he appears..
ItaliaBhoy and VoguePunter
It was a classic. Brazil had it sewn up until Junior’s lazy pass across his own penalty area. Rossi latched onto it and Italy never looked back. A classic game!
Green Brigade marxist?
Brian Glanville on BBC24 talking about the the brilliant Socrates – RIP. Brian is looking very old. He always talked about Celtic with great affection My dear old aunt said he has the only English journalist who realised how great a manager Jock was and how magnificent the Lisbon Lions achiements were.
Try again!
Green Brigade marxist?
http://i40.tinypic.com/1179q1f.gif
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy –
seem to remember taking a half day from work to watch that quarter final. Would that be right, an afternoon kick off?
Jobo
Ref makes an honest mistake against Mick’s team. Penalty given and missed. Justice done.
whitedoghunch says:
4 December, 2011 at 17:25
What a great track, I saw Kevin at some of his first gigs, A Glasgow Original in a town full of Musical Originals…
Sometimes it sucks to be away from the Toon…
With Sunderland’s new manager Martin O’Neill looking on, their No. 7, Larsson misses a penalty…and Wolves go straight up the other end and 25 secoinds later the scores are level.
Jobo
Wolves run up the park and equalise.