2010-02-20: Celtic 1-0 Dundee Utd, SPL

The Old Firm build-up starts here.
Tony Mowbray had just watched his side defeat Dundee United when he spoke of “putting doubts in a few people’s minds”.
The reference, of course, was to those who believe that the race for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title is all but over. But the Celtic manager is all too aware there are still doubts over his side. Celtic should have beaten United easily on Saturday yet managed to keep the doubt in their supporters’ minds until the final whistle.
A Jon Daly header flew wide from a 90th minute corner, sending supporters in a paroxysm of nervous anxiety.
Twelve minutes earlier, the Irishman had fastened on to a desperate Thomas Rogne attempt at a clearance and found Artur Boruc just too substantial an obstacle to overcome on the edge of the six-yard box.
Celtic, then, could have thrown away two points on the chilly breeze. But they did not. That will be the biggest plus on a curious afternoon for manager and supporters. 
Celtic returned the type of result that was the perfect tranquilliser after the collective nervous breakdown in the 4-4 draw at Pittodrie.
They also provided the scoreline that most thought beyond them, namely scoring just the one goal and remaining resilient until the end. Indeed, most of the slackness, and all of the major errors, occurred for Celtic on Saturday at the opposite end from Boruc.
The movement of Robbie Keane caused a statuesque United defence some irrita­tion but was only deeply wounding after 20 minutes when he went clear on to a through ball from Diomansy Kamara and shot under Dusan Pernis.
The Republic of Ireland inter­nationalist was animated throughout, waving his arms at his colleagues, telling Marc-Antoine Fortune to play with his head up and advising Andreas Hinkel robustly on what makes a decent cross. His outspokenness was finally punished by a yellow card for dissent by Craig Thomson.
But Keane’s frustration spoke to a truth. This is a Celtic side that needs time to form a cohesive whole. There was some excellent movement up front but there were many occasions when the run was not matched by the appropriate pass. There were, too, times when the forwards should have been more decisive.
Fortune, Keane and, inevitably, Georgios Samaras all had chances that were met with delicacy rather than by power. Celtic, though, undoubtedly have the capacity to score.
The best news for Mowbray came from the performances of the defence and holding midfielders. It is, of course, much too early to reach a definitive judgment on Josh Thomson, 18, and Rogne, 19, but both were excellent on Saturday afternoon.
Dundee United had selected two physical forwards in Daly and Damien Casalinuovo in an effort to put immediate pressure on the callow Celtic defence. But both centre-backs dealt comfortably with the challenge.
Rogne, in particular, was impressive. He has the ability to win the ball in the air and knock it to a team-mate. He can pass the ball. But his best moment came when a United ball was played down the channel and he simply booted it into the stand. There are times to be clever and he instinctively knew that this was not one of them.
There are still too many cross balls arriving in the Celtic penalty area and Hinkel found Craig Conway an awkward, persistent opponent. But Celtic held firm because their two centre-halves won most of the headers and
Landry N’Guemo and Ki Sung-Yueng offered them a level of protection against the occasional through ball.
N’Guemo had an excellent match and Ki has the potential to become an important player for Celtic. His delivery from set pieces is almost uniformly pacy and precise. With Brown pushed forward on the right and Edson Braafheid providing penetration on the other flank, Celtic could have made this the most comfortable of afternoons as decent chances fell to their feet throughout the match.
However, they subjected their fans to the demons of doubt. United produced a performance that lacked belief and ambition from forward players with the exception of Conway. Yet Celtic fans, wounded by experience, loudly craved a second goal with rumblings reminiscent of a giant whose appetite has not been sated.
Their worst fears were almost realised by interventions from Daly but the Celtic goal survived. The three points gained now takes Celtic to within seven of Rangers with the opportunity to narrow the gap further on Sunday as the teams meet at Ibrox.
Mowbray has his injury worries in Glenn Loovens and Jos Hooiveld with the centre- backs far from sure of being ready to make a return to the team. The supporters have their legitimate concerns over a forward line that cannot quite translate chances into goals and a defence that is promising but inexperienced.
But Mowbray knows now there may be just the slightest doubt over the destination of the championship among his opponents and critics.
His side’s task is make a convincing statement of Celtic’s ambitions at Ibrox.