2011-08-13: Celtic 5-1 Dundee Utd, SPL

Match Pictures | Matches: 2011 – 2012 | 2011-2012 Pictures

Trivia

• Motherwell top having played one more game; Celtic with maximum pts; Rangers win 2-0 away.
• Celtic concede first goal of season.
• Injuries mount. Izzy out for around 4-6mths; Kayal injured midweek; Hooper injured during game etc…. Brown jsut back from suspension but got knock in international matches during last week.

Review

Easy win, despite Dundee Utd having their chances. Hoping for more of the same to come.

Injuries racking up….

Teams

Ref: Craig Thomson
Attendance: 50,589

Articles

• Match Report (see end of page below)
• Audio Report: Paradise Report

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• Winner – Stokes, A
• 2011-12 Winners

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Articles

Five-star showing for Celts at Paradise

By: Laura Brannan on 13 Aug, 2011 17:01 13 August 2011
Scottish Premier League
Celtic Park

CELTIC 5
(Stokes 4, Hooper 33, Ki 58, Ledley 71, Forrest 90)

DUNDEE UNITED 1
(Russell 31)

THE first competitive match at Celtic Park of the new season produced a comprehensive and entertaining 5-1 victory against Dundee United to continue the Hoops 100 per centstart totheir SPL campaign.

Anthony Stokes opened the scoring with his third goal in as many league games four minutes into the match, before Johnny Russell equalised for the visitors on the half-hour mark.

But Gary Hooper responded almost instantly, putting the Hoops ahead again with his first goal of the new season. AndNeil Lennon'sside sealed the victory in the second-half through goals from Ki Sung Yueng, Joe Ledley and an injury-time finish from James Forrest.

The manager made three changes from the side which beat Aberdeen last weekend, welcoming back Scott Brown to the captain’s role after the midfielder had missed the first two matches of the season through suspension.

Overcoming theinjury he picked up in Scotland’s midweek friendly, he returned to the side along with Mark Wilson who also missed last weekend with a hip injury. Charlie Mulgrew was the other change, as he slotted in for the injured Emilio Izaguirre at left-back.

Celtic looked confident from the start and Kris Commons had the first shot on target after just three minutes. United’s keeper Dusan Pernis could only block the effort without catching it, though, which allowed Stokes to win a corner.

The striker was looking sharp in front of goal and the resulting corner led to his opener. Daniel Majstorovic headed the ball down and the Irishman slotted it under the keeper with his left foot, putting the Hoops ahead on four minutes.

And boosted by his goal, Stokes then attempted to double the home side’s advantage shortly after with a powerful effort from 35-yards out.

Dundee United came more into the game as the first-half settled andequalised on the half-hour mark. Gary Kenneth mis-hit a shot which rolled into the path of Russell who slotted the ball home to make it 1-1.

But Celtic responded almost instantly with Hooper putting his side back in the lead again less than two minutes later. Stokes' header came back off the bar and the Englishman was on hand tonod the loose ball over the keeper and into the net.

Celtic started the second-half as promisingly as the first, with Mulgrew threatening down the left and Mark Wilson attempting a one-two with Stokes inside the box.

But it was Commons who came closest to stretching the advantage on 53 minutes when his low drive came off the far post.

Peter Houston’s men continued to push play into Celtic’s half but on the counter attack, Commons broke down the left wing. Playing in Ki, the South Korean charged into the box and slammed his shot into the top corner, extending Celtic’s leadjust before the hour mark.

Dundee United didn’t let their heads go down after losing the third goal, and Zaluskamade two excellent saves within four minutes to maintain Celtic's two-goal advantage.

Making another break from a United attack, Hooper charged through the centre of the pitch to unleash a powerful drive just wide of the post. In the process he was taken out by Paul Dixon, though, and had to be stretchered off on 66 minutes. The Dundee United defender was lucky to escape punishment for his late tackle.

It was his replacement, Shaun Maloney, who set up Celtic’s fourth, playing in Ledley at the near post. The Welshman slotted the ball into the bottom corner of Pernis’ net to kill the game as a contest on 71 minutes.

And Maloney then had his own chance when his shot went agonisingly wide of the far post, missing the target by inches.

But it wasn’t the final effort on target as substitute Forrest finished proceedings with an injury-time strike, sealing the 5-1 victory for Celtic.

CELTIC (4-4-2): Zaluska; M. Wilson, Majstorovic, K. Wilson, Mulgrew; Brown, Ki, Ledley, Commons (Forrest 63); Stokes (McCourt 77), Hooper (Maloney 66)
Subs not used: Cervi, Matthews, Wanyama, Samaras

DUNDEE UNITED (4-4-2): Pernis; Dillon, Kenneth, Watson, Dixon; Flood (Gunning 77), Allan (Armstrong 68), Robertson, Rankin; Daly, Russell
Subs not used: Banks, Swanson, Douglas, Mackay-Steven, Dow

Website man of the match: Scott Brown

By Martin Conaghan
BBC Scotland

Celtic have taken nine points from their opening three matches in the SPL Celtic continued their 100% run in the Scottish Premier League with a comfortable win against Dundee United.
Anthony Stokes's fourth-minute header was cancelled out by Johnny Russell on the half hour with a close-range strike at the back post.
Gary Hooper's header gave Celtic a half-time advantage, before a superb second-half strike from Ki Sung-Yeung.
A 71st-minute Joe Ledley tap-in and a well-worked injury-time effort from James Forrest secured all three points.
The win puts Celtic one point behind league-leaders Motherwell at the top of the table with nine points from their opening three matches, while United slip to sixth place following last week's draw at home to St Mirren.
With just four minutes played, a sensational long-distance shot from Kris Commons gave the United keeper Dusan Pernis a scare, resulting in a corner from which Stokes headed in from six yards.
Celtic keeper Lukasz Zaluska fumbled a Keith Watson cross from the right but Russell couldn't get a foot to it before the Polish keeper pounced to correct his mistake.
As the half hour mark approached, Ki blasted in a powerful shot from 18 yards, but Garry Kenneth deflected it out for a corner.
United found the equaliser 14 minutes from the interval when Kenneth miscued a shot that drifted across the face of the Celtic goal for Russell to fire home, unmarked, from 10 yards out.
Celtic's lead was restored immediately when Hooper benefited from a header that rebounded off the United crossbar and wrong-footed Pernis. The English striker rose highest above the United defence on the goal line and nodded in.
After the interval, Commons struck the inside of the Pernis's left-hand post, but the ball rebounded back out to safety.
United continued to look dangerous with a John Rankin long-range free-kick in the 56th minute that curved past the post.
Scott Robertson crumpled in a heap inside the Celtic penalty area – but referee Craig Thomson was having none of it – then Celtic quickly counter-attacked with Commons laying off to Ki, who blasted in a terrific third goal from 17 yards.
Willo Flood flighted in a tempting corner that Kenneth headed inches past the Celtic post then, in a flurry of goalmouth activity, Russell was unlucky to see his header deflected out in a similar fashion.
Hooper powered into the United half on a solo run and struck for goal, but the ball went wide of the target and the former Scunthorpe man was stretchered off moments later after injuring himself in the process.
United were by no means down and out and continued to press their hosts with efforts from Flood and Russell, but Maloney provided the assist with a neat cut-back from the goal-line to allow Ledley the chance to tap in Celtic's fourth.
Maloney could have made it five after some clever footwork in the final 10 minutes of the match, but the substitute dragged his shot wide.
In the final minutes of the match, Rankin forced Zaluska to tip over an angled free-kick from near the goal-line, but United were simply going through the motions before Forrest finished off a well-worked team effort to strike home Celtic's fifth of the day from close range.