Dundee United 0-2 Celtic: Visitors break down hosts’ resistance to restore nine-point lead

Celtic restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they ground down Dundee United’s stubborn resistance after the break.

A more resilient United held out until Jota headed home an Aaron Mooy cross.

Five minutes later, Mooy slotted home a penalty after Jota’s flick struck Kieran Freeman’s hand.

Celtic’s fifth game in a row without conceding means they have scored 18 times and lost just one goal in their last five visits to Tannadice.

It leaves United third bottom on goal difference, tied on points with Motherwell, Ross County and Kilmarnock, and without a win against Celtic in 19 games since a 2-1 win at Tannadice in December 2014.

Both managers agreed pre-match that United are a different beast since that August humiliation.

Not surprisingly, though, Mark Birighitti was the busier goalkeeper, the Australian being fortunate not to see a clearance charged down by Kyogo Furuhashi nestling behind him before blocking at the Japan striker’s feet after also saving low from a Jota drive.

Craig Sibbald blocked from midfield counterpart Mooy in front of the United goal before Birighitti bravely punched clear off the head of Kyogo only to see referee Don Robertson point to the penalty spot after the striker was also caught by the goalkeeper as he came for the ball.

Robertson was instructed to have a check on the screen and reversed his decision.

However, there was no reprieve shortly after half time when Birighitti appeared to lose his bearings as Mooy launched a deep cross and Jota headed in precisely from a difficult angle.

Celtic ensured the victory soon after as Freeman stuck out a hand and Mooy was given the opportunity from the penalty spot to slot his third goal in two games as the visitors could comfortably afford a close-range miss from Daizen Maeda in the dying seconds.

Player of the match – Jota (Celtic)

Numbers add up in Celtic’s favour – analysis

There was no record scoreline this time, but it was still a game of big numbers at Tannadice.

Celtic have gone 19 domestic games unbeaten since their one defeat of the season away to St Mirren in September, with a draw away to second-top Rangers being the only time they haven’t won.

It was a 50th win in 61 Premiership games under Ange Postecoglou, reaching that landmark in the same number of games as Brendan Rodgers – only Martin O’Neill has done it quicker, by two games.

Captain Callum McGregor was faultless in midfield on his 400th Celtic appearance and there was a debut off the bench for Oh Hyeon-gyu, the South Korea striker signed in midweek from Suwon Samsung Bluewings and the latest addition to a squad that is already looking incredibly strong domestically.

United captain Ryan Edwards suffered defeat as he returned to the starting line-up to make his 100th club appearance, but his side look to have continued the improvement suggested by their November visit to Celtic Park, where they only lost courtesy of two stoppage-time goals.

They could not match their own two goals this time and rarely troubled visiting goalkeeper Joe Hart, but they have still only lost three times in nine outings and their gritty performance will give manager Liam Fox grounds to believe they can move clear of relegation trouble.

What they said

Dundee United head coach Liam Fox: “I can’t take positives right now, I’m sore and disappointed. We’ve got a huge game on Wednesday so we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves.

“I was pleased to get in at 0-0 at half-time – I thought in the last parts we were just surviving. We had to be braver on the ball, better in possession, because we didn’t threaten enough for my liking. We conceded two quick goals and the rest of the afternoon becomes very difficult.”

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: “I thought we handled it well, difficult conditions. They were really disciplined in their structure, particularly the first half. Having said that, we still got behind them on a number of occasions.

“We missed that final touch and quality, but we started the second half really well, scored a couple goals and could have scored a couple more. A really strong performance.”

What’s next?

United visit relegation rivals Kilmarnock as Celtic host in-form Livingston on Wednesday (both 19:45 GMT).