Celtic5–0Dundee Utd

It was a fairly quiet opening to the match, although Celtic enjoyed the vast majority of possession, defensively United were fairly solid and disciplined in their structure, forcing the Hoops to trying efforts from distance. The home side did eventually make the break-through however, a defensive mix-up seeing Leigh Griffiths latch onto a ball inside the box before converting from an acute angle. After Celtic’s opener United continued to limit the Hoops to striking from distance, but twenty minutes after Griffiths’s goal Dedryck Boyata headed in a second, Stuart Armstrong’s wide free-kick meeting the head of the former Manchester City defender and into the net. Right on the stroke of half-time Celtic were awarded a penalty, Scott Fraser judged to have tripped over fullback Kieran Tierney just as the defender was driving his way inside the box. Midfielder Kris Commons was at hand to take the penalty, firing a decisive spot-kick to the opposite side of Zwick.

Beginning the second period in a similar fashion to the end of the first, ten minutes in, the Hoops added a fourth. Once again, the ball fell to the clinical Kris Commons inside the box, who cut onto his sweet left boot before firing an unstoppable fizzer into the top corner of Zwick’s goal. After the home side’s fourth of the afternoon, United had their best spell of the game and at 56 minutes were inches away from pulling a goal back. A dangerous delivery from a Scott Fraser corner ricocheted inside the box, falling to substitute Adam Taggart whose sliced effort was cleared off the line by Efe Ambrose. Following a brief five minute spell of United dominance the Hoops began to take charge again, passing the ball around precisely and with control but without the intensity that had been displayed on occasions throughout the game. The Terrors once again returned to a disciplined defensive approach and goalkeeper Zwick showed clear evidence of the potential he has, terrifically saving both Stefan Johansen and Joso Simunovic’s long-range pile drivers. With less than two minutes remaining Scott Brown added a fifth, effortlessly gliding past four United defenders before poking a shot off the face of Aaron Kuhl and into the net.

Manager's Comment:
“Absolutely rubbish. Everybody in that dressing room must look in the mirror. It doesn't matter about tactics or shape, if you don't get the basic fundamentals right. It doesn't matter what you do on the training ground, if it doesn't happen out there on the pitch. All that goes in the bin!"

Fan's Comment:
“Dreadful."

Formation: 4-2-3-1
Captain: Seán Dillon
Arab Archive 'Man of the Match': Luis Zwick

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