DUNDEE UNITED 0 CELTIC 0
IT WAS puzzling and perplexing as Celtic carelessly threw away two points in a blankety-blank performance at Tannadice this afternoon.
They blew the opportunity to go back to an 11-point advantage at the Premiership pinnacle as they stumbled to an uninspiring stalemate.
There was a worrying lack of urgency and invention as a much-changed Hoops team failed to overcome stubborn opponents and paid the price after a fairly dismal showing.
A lot of possession with precious little penetration. That was the story for the Hoops in this forgettable confrontation.
United keeper Jack Walton was hardly overworked as the visitors had a procession of shots all off target.
The best chance of the opening period fell to Reo Hatate in the tenth minute, but he screwed his angled drive wide of the far left-hand post.
OFF TARGET…Reo Hatate whips a low shot past Dundee United keeper Jack Walton – and wide of the post.
Liam Scales and Daizen Maeda teamed up to present the midfielder with the opportunity, but his accuracy was out while team-mate Kyogo Furuhashi screamed for a pass as he took up a perfect position smack in front of goal.
The Hoops were in control, but lacked the killer edge and once again that was highlighted again in the 34th minute when Stephen Welsh picked out Yang Hyun-jun who was racing clear on the right.
The comeback South Korean winger squandered the opportunity to set up a chance for a colleague by wastefully hitting the ball out of play at the back post.
To be fair to Yang, it was only his second start of the season, but he did look rusty and there was no cohesion between him and Anthony Ralston on the right flank.
Luke McCowan looked eager to impress and was in the thick of the action while he also found space to whip in two efforts from outside the box, but, almost predictably, they were both wide.
The first-half came to a halt after Callum McGregor has teamed up with Maeda to pick out Hatate in the box, but the playmaker sent his shot wildly over the bar and into the crowd.
SHOVE OFF…Yang Hyun-jun and Will Ferry battle for possession.
Just after the hour mark, Brendan Rodgers made a couple of substitutions with the ineffective Yang and McCowan making way for Adam Idah and Luis Palma as the manager changed the shape of the team.
The Republic of Ireland international frontman went straight into focal point in attack with Kyogo dropping slightly behind him with Maeda switching to the right to accommodate the Honduran on the left.
Within a minute, Idah burst into action with a quickfire drive from the edge of the box that edged past the right-hand post.
In the 72nd minute, it took a smart save from Kasper Schmeichel to prevent a shock goal for the home team when Kyogo’s mis control in his own box was snapped upon by Glenn Middleton.
The winger shipped in a low 14-yard drive, but the Danish keeper was alert to the danger and was down swiftly to his left to make the save.
Maeda forced Walton into action with a header from an angled ball from Ralston which was turned round the post by the shotstopper.
In the 78th minute, Paulo Bernardo was introduced for an out-of-touch Hatate.
OH NO, KYOGO…the Celtic hitman squanders a superb chance as he hits the ball against the legs of United keeper Jack Walton and another opportunity is lost at Tannadice.
A minute later, Kyogo passed up a glorious opportunity to claim the breakthrough goal after being set up by a neat pass from Idah.
The Japanese striker, normally so deadly in these situations, seemed to be caught in two minfs and weakly hit an effort against the outrushing netminder. It was a miss that just about summed up this fumbling Celtic performance.
Arne Engels replaced Maeda in the 86th minute and came so close to delivering the winner a minute into stoppage-time.
He was picked out by Greg Taylor in a great position and the £11million man stabbed the ball towards the net only to be thwarted by the outflung leg of Walton.
And with that miss went Celtic’s chance of maintaining their 100 per cent away record in the league this season.
Still, a nine-point lead at this stage of the season isn’t too bad!
TEAM: Schmeichel; Ralston, Welsh, Scales, Taylor; McCowan (sub: Idah 61), McGregor, Hatate (sub: Bernardo 78); Yang (sub: Palma 61), Kyogo, Maeda (sub: Engels 86)
