Celtic 6
Dundee Utd 1
League (Premiership)

Match Report

United suffered a heavy defeat at Celtic Park to put the brakes on what was a very encouraging start to season 2014/15. The game was effectively over after half an hour and it became a damage limitation process for United from that point forward. McNamara opted to stick with the same team that had played the first two league games of the season but after picking up maximum points in their opening games, the wheels came off at the scene of last season's Scottish Cup final defeat.

It promised to be an open, even and exciting match in the opening few minutes. First, Callum McGregor struck the post within 40 seconds of the match start, then immediately Mackay-Steven found space behind the Celtic defence but shot narrowly wide. With three minutes on the clock the opening goal arrived. United failed to clear their lines from a corner and Jason Denayer poked the ball into the top corner. At this stage United still looked dangerous but had the stuffing knocked out of them on 26 minutes. Again from a corner, Kris Commons out muscled Paton and nodded home at the near post. If that left an uphill task for United, they had a mountain to climb just minutes later. First Armstrong had to come off with an ankle injury and then Stefan Johansen scored a third for Celtic after robbing Paul Paton at the edge of the box.

The second half provided no respite for United. Just ten minutes in, Anthony Stokes scored from another set play. It was 5-0 on the hour when Jo Inge Berget capitalised again from a corner, this time heading home from close range. John Rankin pulled a goal back for United with 20 minutes remaining, striking home a right footed shot from the edge of the area. The pain wasn't over for United and Berget added a sixth with just seconds left on the clock. A huge set back for the tangerines, but having taken 6 points from 9 in the opening week of the season there is still much to be optimistic about.

Manager's Comment:
"I was confident before the game. We had a good support down today and I was genuinely optimistic about the match. It doesn't matter who you're up against. If you don't defend set pieces properly and do your jobs, you're going to be punished. It becomes a lot harder when you're playing against the quality of Celtic because everybody wants the ball, the confidence is up and they have the players to hurt you."

Fan's Comment:
"It always seems to be the times where we travel to Celtic expecting to get a result, that we end up getting trounced. I don't know what happened today but it was men against boys out there. In short, embarrassing."

Match Photos courtesy of Riki Grauer - More photos available at:
Dundee United Official Flickr Page