Scottish Premiership
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Tannadice, Dundee

DUNDEE UNITED…0

CELTIC…1
(Ajeti 82)

ALBIAN Ajeti emerged as the goal hero at Tannadice to secure a well-deserved win for Celtic. The champions couldn’t find a way past the Dundee United keeper for much of the game despite creating plenty of chances but the Swiss substitute emerged with the all-important goal late on.

The fast tempo was set from kick-off as both sides looked to grab an early goal. Dundee United forged a couple of chances early on and soaked up the pressure from Celtic.

The Hoops first real chance came in the 13th minute when a failed clearance inside the Dundee United box fell to Odsonne Edouard. The Frenchman fired off a powerful volley but was uncharacteristically off target.

United were aggressive in their defending and looked to hit Celtic on the counter-attack when they did manage to regain possession but Vasilis Barkas was untroubled in the Celtic goal.

Celtic’s dominance started to show around the half-hour mark when they found a good rhythm and began piling the pressure on Mickey Mellon’s team with wave after wave of chances.

A quick passage of play pierced open the opposition defence and Mohamed Elyounoussi rolled the ball to Ryan Christie inside the box but Dundee United defender Jamie Robson slid in to make a crucial block.

Olivier Ntcham passed up a good chance moments with a heavy first touch that narrowed the angle for his shot across goal which was also blocked.

Dundee United’s Swiss goalkeeper, Benjamin Siegrist, made a series of excellent saves late in the first half to deny Celtic. He denied Christie a goal when he dived low to his right to get a hand to Christie’s left-footed shot inside the box.

Edouard came close to scoring his fifth goal of the season when he cut inside and curled a shot across goal from close range with his right foot but Siegrist made a good reaction save to keep game goalless going into the break.

Celtic came out for the second half fired up and immediately bombarded the United goal with chances. Ntcham’s driven pass across the six-yard box went unanswered in the opening seconds.

Siegrist came to his side’s rescue seconds later with a diving save across goal to get a hand to Christie’s curling shot from the edge of the area that was bound for the far corner. Christopher Jullien then fired his volley over from a Celtic corner.

Celtic were unfortunate not to have established a comfortable lead inside the hour mark and Christie could have bagged a couple of himself but the Hoops midfielder was unable to keep his two shots from outside the penalty area down.

Neil Lennon made his first change with just under 30 minutes remaining as James Forrest replaced Elyounoussi on the left wing.

Jullien helped cut out the deep-lying defence with a good long ball for Edouard but he was unable to take the ball down and shoot before the keeper pounced on the ball.

Edouard and Forrest linked up well to create a chance with the French striker back-heeling the ball into Forrest. He cut across goal and fired off a right-footed shot but his attempt was a yard over the crossbar.

With just over 15 minutes remaining Neil Lennon changed formation, opting for three at the back and bringing on Albian Ajeti to partner with Edouard upfront. The chances continued to come for Celtic and McGregor had a go at scoring with a drilled right-footed shot from the edge of the area that was narrowly wide of the goal.

Edouard won a free-kick on the edge of the area with 10 minutes remaining but luck appeared to be on Dundee United’s side as his effort skimmed the top of the crossbar.

The home side looked as if they might hold the champions to a draw but Ajeti showed his striking instincts to give Celtic the goal they thoroughly deserved. Christie’s long-range shot was punched up in the air by the keeper and Ajeti headed the ball back into the danger zone for Edouard. The United defence managed to stab the ball away from his feet but Ajeti pounced with a powerful shot from close range.

DUNDEE UNITED: Siegrist; Neilson (Freeman 60), Connolly, Reynolds, Robson, Bolton, Harkes, Butcher, Pawlett, Chalmers (Sporle 65), Clark (Appéré 73).
Subs: Powers, McMullan, Smith, King, Mehmet, Glass

CELTIC: Barkas, Jullien, Taylor (Ajeti 73), Bitton, Brown, Christie, Ntcham (Ajer 73), Edouard (Klimala 85), Elyounoussi (Forrest 62), Frimpong, McGregor.
Subs: Bain, Soro, Elhamed, Harper, McInroy.

Website Man of the Match: Albian Ajeti

Ajeti nets first goal to hand Celtic a win against Dundee United