UNITED DEFEATED BY CELTIC’S STRONG FIRST HALF DISPLAY

Celtic extended their long-standing unbeaten away record in the Scottish Premierleague with a comfortable victory against Ian McCall’s side. Despite the result, however, there were some signs of promise for United, who created a number of chances against the Premierleague Champions’ defence in the first half, and did well to curb the attacking threat from Celtic after the break. Goals from Sutton (2) and Petrov took the Bhoys to their 3-0 victory. After the recent defensive frailties, United boss Ian McCall changed the face of the hosts’ starting eleven, and goalkeeper Paul Jarvie was given his first competitive start for the side. McCall also retained the back three of Chris Innes, David McCracken and Alan Archibald which played in the second half at Rugby Park, while Billy Dodds came back into the midfield to captain the side, and James Grady came back into the starting line-up at the expense of Andy McLaren. Meanwhile, the only change from the Celtic side, defeated 3-1 in the San Siro in midweek, was the exclusion of midfielder Alan Thompson, injured in the Champions League match against Milan, with Brazilian Juninho coming in to replace him on the left of midfield. The hosts started brightly, and in the second minute, Grady’s run into area was stopped by Balde. Despite appeals for handball against the Celtic defender, referee Dallas awarded the corner for United. Four minutes later, Barry Robson came close with a free kick from 28 yards which curled narrowly wide after McIntyre had been fouled. However, the United defence were made to pay for slack marking in the ninth minute, when Celtic opened the scoring from their first corner. Stilian Petrov took the corner from the Celtic right, and Chris Sutton was unmarked to steer his header low into the far corner. Eight minutes later, Celtic extended their lead with some swift counter attacking play, as Henri Camara spotted Petrov’s run behind the defence, and timed his pass brilliantly for the Bulgarian to place his shot beyond Jarvie’s reach into the far corner. Either side of the visitors’ second, United had strong claims turned down for penalties, when both McIntyre and Duff went down in the area, but Dallas felt that neither incident had been a foul to disappoint the home side. The Premierleague Champions were showing their creative power going forward, with Varga, Hartson, Camara and Juninho all having chances within the first half hour, the latter’s a contender for miss of the season, the Brazilian World Cup winner knocking wide of an open goal after Jarvie had blocked Camara’s shot. In between times, however, Valgaeren kept his side’s clean sheet intact, with a great block in front of goal as McIntyre was set to tap in from Dodds’s cross. Another quick counter from the visitors engineered the chance for their third, when seconds after Marshall’s clearance, Camara’s pace got him behind the defence and lulled Jarvie into mistiming his challenge for the ball. Sutton stepped up to take the resultant penalty, and sent the ball beyond Jarvie’s reach to the goalkeeper’s right. Immediately after the penalty, Ulrik Laursen came on to replace Joos Valgaeren for Celtic, who had limped off shortly earlier with an apparent knee problem. Half Time: Dundee United 0-3 Celtic The United side switched to a back four after the break, with Derek McInnes on to replace McCracken. Duff moved to left back, and Wilson moved back into the right back berth. The change in system appeared to have some effect in stifling the Celtic attacking threat, and Barry Robson’s roving from the left flank gave him the chance to get the ball to feet on a number of occasions, with a shot over the bar from twenty yards in the fiftieth minute, and a good run on the hour which ended disappointingly for the winger. Ian McCall changed things in the midfield, bringing on Kerr to replace Brebner on 61 minutes, and McIntyre was lucky to escape uninjured after a two footed challenge from Balde, although the referee ruled that the defender had made contact with the ball first. Karim Kerkar came on for his debut in the 67th minute replacing Billy Dodds. The remainder of the game passed without much in the way of incident, with Petrov and Kerr both having shots off target from long range, and some flashes of individual skill from the two substitutes, Kerkar and Wallace. There were two bookings, the first for Neil Lennon, cautioned midway through the second period for an off the ball tangle with McInnes, who also went into Hugh Dallas’s book four minutes later for persistent fouling. Full Time: Dundee United 0-3 Celtic Man of the Match: Mark Wilson. Playing in a congested midfield area in the first half, Wilson still seemed time to play with the ball at his feet, and was a calming influence in allowing United some time in possession. The second half also saw the youngster look to get forward from the full back position, finding space down the flank. Teams: Dundee United Jarvie, Wilson, Innes, McCracken (McInnes 45), Archibald, Duff, Brebner (Kerr 61), Dodds (Kerkar 67), Robson, McIntyre, Grady. Subs Not Used: Hirschfeld (GK), Scotland, Callaghan, Gardiner. Celtic: Marshall, Agathe, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren (Laursen 37), Petrov, Lennon, Juninho Paulista, Sutton, Camara (Lambert 76), Hartson (Wallace 73). Subs Not Used: Hedman (GK), Sylla, McGeady, Cuthbert Referee Hugh Dallas Attendance 10,329