Dundee Utd 0-3 Celtic

A real Jekyll and Hyde showing from Celtic with ultimately the good outweighing the bad to the tune of 3 goals.

The first 45 minutes of football was seriously poor stuff from the Hoops both in defence,where VVD and Denayer looked decidedly wobbly and we failed to really put any pressure on the man with the ball in and around our penalty area and in attack, where the Thumb got no service and Commons and Johansen were ineffective.

The overall quality of passing was just completely off the mark, so many times we played aimless passes that went out for a goal kick or throw in, I was extremely concerned. We made a Dundee Utd attack that has managed 4 goals in their last 8 games look moderately threatening.

There needed to be a change in attitude heading into the second half and thankfully there was. We started to zip the ball about with more pace and intent, stretching the backline of the Arabs and asking far more questions. This positive intent was rewarded through a flowing move started by Armstrong on the left and ended with Griffiths rifling the ball low past the goalkeeper from the right hand side of the penalty box. It was the best move of the match to that point and served to inspire the players to start playing at their best.

All of a sudden we started to use the width of the pitch, the fullbacks getting involved further up the park and players creating and running into space. A superb ball from Johansen brought an incredible save from the Pole in the goal and a lovely dummy from Commons allowed Johansen to run onto the ball just outside the box and power another effort that was emphatically beaten away by the keeper.
Celtic were hitting their stride but needed a 2nd goal to feel totally comfortable and it came in very stange circumstances. A corner from the left swung in and seemed to come off the Dundee Utd defenders head forcing a block on the line. The ball fell to Griffiths feet and he bundled the ball over the line on 2 different occasions. The play just seemed to stop as if everyone was waiting for an offisde flag but it rightly never came and Celtic profited.

The third goal was shrouded in controversy as GMS, on as a substitute, ran with pace and purpose at the United backline, only to be cynically scythed down by John Rankin on the edge of the box. There was no doubting the offence commited but replays showed that the foul had been commited clearly, in my eyes, outside the penalty box. It was an awful decision by the officials and whilst it may not have been significant in the context of the game it didn't make it any less poor.

Griffiths stepped up to slam home the 3rd goal and complete his hat-trick. Second half he looked interested and involved, working tirelessly for the cause and almost nabbed a 4th when he sent a shot flying narrowly past the left post.
I really enjoy it when we play on the counter attack, I think it's when we play our best stuff with the fullbacks bombing forward, the pace of Griffiths, GMS and Armstrong supplemented by the passing skills of Biton and Johansen, its a joy to watch when we get it right.


Johansen didn't have his best game today and it seems that his form has dipped but I enjoyed GMS cameo today, unlucky not to score and caused a number of problems with his directness. I felt our team really went up a gear in the second half but I would hope Ronny might have a word about that first half showing, better teams would punish that.

United played pretty well for 45 minutes but seemed to fall away in the second half. 8 points clear with 4 to go means it's game set and match, I think it would be great to clinch it up at Pittodrie rather than as a result of dropped points by the sheep.