2012-03-11: Dundee Utd 0-4 Celtic, Scottish Cup

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

Trivia

• Scottish Cup quarter finals
• Celtic through to semi finals to play Hearts or St Mirren next.
• Celtic wearing black arm bands after death of Paul McBride (a QC who publicly supported Neil Lennon and the club).
• Lennon warned BBC Scotland the club will not co-operate with sections of the media for the rest of the season. Lennon accused the Scottish press of deliberately attempting to draw Celtic into Rangers' financial crisis. "There's a lot of muckraking going on between some hacks," said Lennon.
• League Cup final v Kilmarnock next Sunday.
• Focus on RIA (Huns in administration), apocryphal stories of bids to buy them floating around.
• Ten SPL teams meeting next week to discuss situation in light of Huns' situation. Ten? Because they didn't invite us as wish to discuss issues behind closed doors so we cant' hear them, block voting against us in any ideas.
• Neil Lennon (via Twitter): "Can you believe the BBC asked to film live myself and Trish Godman giving evidence in court this week #howcrass!" (on the ensuing court case over the men charged over sending incendiary devices to Lennon and others.

Review

(Grafenwalder of KDS)
Sweet. A huge hurdle cleared. I was thinking maybe a draw and get them back to Celtic Park.

I bit flat in the first half. Credit to Dundee United – they played well and, with better finishing, could have made it hard for us.

Much better second half. We started using the space, exploiting the numerical advantage. The first goal was a thing of real beauty. Sharp defending by Matthews to avert what could have been a one-on-one. Slick, fast passing through the midfield then working the ball down the left before the ball in for Ledley. Superb.

After Sammy's header, we were cruising. Bizarre miss by Stokes.

Great result. 4-0 a little harsh on the home side but them's the breaks.

Oh and – Wanyama is developing into the finest player we have seen for a long time.

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Stats

Dundee United v Celtic

Possession

55% v 45%

Articles

Dundee United 0 Celtic 4: match report
By Roddy Forsyth, Tannadice

7:26PM GMT 11 Mar 2012

Telegraph

Celtic’s seemingly inexorable advance on a clean sweep of the Scottish honours marched on at Tannadice when they recovered from a stumbling start to sweep Dundee United aside in this William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final tie.

The game was goalless at half-time – by which time United had been reduced to 10 men after Robbie Neilson had followed up a foul on Georgios Samaras – for which he was cautioned – with a flailing arm into the Greek’s face to earn a straight red card.

That was the turning point the afternoon and once Celtic got in front through a tidy finish from Joe Ledley, the proceedings steadily shifted in their favour. Samaras added to an eventful outing by heading a Charlie Mulgrew free-kick past Dusan Pernis from close range and there was no way back for Peter Houston’s players when Ledley released Anthony Stokes for his 20th goal of the season.

Stokes had earlier struck the crossbar when the entire goal was open to him from a James Forrest cutback to the loudly expressed amusement of the Celtic fans, but he had long since been forgiven by the time Scott Brown buried a penalty kick awarded when Samaras was tripped by Sean Dillon in the dying seconds.

Beforehand, a tetchy Neil Lennon explained why Celtic had not staged their customary pre-match media briefing on Friday. “We decided not to hold a press conference this week because of all the nonsense going on elsewhere – people accusing our club of trying to put people out of work at Rangers and telling lies about agreements,” said the Hoops manager.

“There’s a lot of muckraking amongst some hacks. It’s in the hands of our legal team and it’s probably best not to talk about it.

“We want to get our heads down and we want to talk about football. A lot of media outlets will be disappointed because we won’t be speaking to them.

“We’ll do our speaking through the club. I’m angry but I’ll deal with it in my own way.”

After such a declaration of intent, Celtic proved oddly inarticulate in a drab first half, in which the tactical contest was edged by United until Neilson’s flying elbow altered the balance of play. Samaras, in his familiar detached fashion, seemed quite uninterested in checking back to counter the thrusts of Willo Flood along the United right, a piece of negligence that encouraged Dillon to get in on the act.

Lennon’s response was to withdraw Victor Wanyama to central defence, push Mulgrew out to left-back and switch Ledley into midfield. The switch paid off but not before Fraser Forster had been forced to make an outstanding reflex save from a venomous Johnny Russell effort.

The breakthrough, eight minutes after the break, came precisely because of Ledley’s advanced role, when he broke from midfield in support of a Stokes break and was in perfect position to beat Pernis with a tidy shot from six yards. At 1-0, though, nothing could be taken for granted and if Milos Lacny – who had replaced the injured Gavin Gunning – had been only a touch more assertive with a left-foot drive inside the Celtic box he would have levelled the score instead of pushing his attempt narrowly wide.

This profligacy was punished almost immediately when Flood fouled Stokes for the Mulgrew free-kick from which Samaras scored. Celtic’s third was a replay of their first, except with the roles reversed so that Ledley set up Stokes for a finish that gave the Dubliner his 20th goal of the season.

Samaras completed an eventful afternoon when he was barged by Dillon inside the box. Pernis guessed the direction of Brown’s penalty kick but seemed to dive over the ball as it crossed the line.

“We were disjointed in the first half and we have to look at how that happened,” said Lennon.

“We won’t win a treble if we do that too often, but by the end I thought we were pretty convincing and now we turn our attention to next week’s League Cup final against Kilmarnock.”

Match details

Dundee United (4-4-2): Pernis; Neilson, Dillon, Gunning (Lacny 58), Dixon; Flood (Armstrong 78), Robertson, Rankin, Mackay-Steven (Kenneth 30); Daly, Russell. Subs: Banks (g), Ryan. Booked: Neilson. Sent off: Neilson.

Celtic (4-4-2): Forster (Zaluska 87); Matthews, Rogne, Mulgrew, Ledley; Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Samaras; Hooper (McCourt 80), Stokes (Commons 87). Subs: Wilson, Cha.

Referee: I Brines.

Celtic await Hearts-St Mirren replay

Holders Celtic will take on either Hearts or St Mirren in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden Park next month.

Aberdeen, 2-1 winners at Motherwell, will play Hibernian who beat Ayr 2-0 on Saturday.

Dons manager Craig Brown told Sky Sports: "We're delighted to be in the draw, all the teams are fairly even. Celtic are the best team [left in] I think and to avoid them is fortunate, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

"You see the way they played, we made heavy weather of the game today so we need to improve against Hibs in the semi-final."

BBC

11 March 2012 Last updated at 15:14

By Clive Lindsay BBC Scotland

Holders Celtic showed no mercy to 10-man Dundee United to move convincingly into the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster's superb save denied Jonny Russell from close range before Robbie Neilson was sent off after 28 minutes.

His elbow into the face of Georgios Samaras handed Celtic the advantage.

And Joe Ledley swept home a 53rd-minute opener, Samaras headed the second, while Anthony Stokes fired another and Scott Brown scored a late penalty.

The Greek had returned to Neil Lennon's side along with fit-again captain Scott Brown, Adam Matthews and Victor Wanyama, with Kelvin Wilson, Kris Commons, Mikael Lustig and Andre Blackman dropping out.

United manager Peter Houston, though, not surprisingly retained the starting line-up that defeated Inverness Caley Thistle 3-0 last weekend.

The two sides started at breakneck speed and, despite the entertainment being on a high in the Tannadice sunshine, two strong defences limited the early chances.

Former Celtic midfielder Willo Flood's cross found Jon Daly 14 yards from goal and the striker threw himself low to head just wide, although it appeared that an offside flag would have ruled out a goal in any case.
Neilson's elbow into the face of Samaras reduced United to 10 men

Only the heroics of Forster prevented United taking the lead after 28 minutes when Gary Mackay-Steven's low cross from the bye-line was met by Jonny Russell.

The striker's low drive was parried by the goalkeeper from point-blank range and Russell was unable to gather Daly's mis-hit volley across the face of goal on the rebound.

However, United moments later pressed the self-destruct button when Neilson, who had already picked up a yellow card for late challenge on Samaras, was shown a straight red card for elbowing the forward in the face as they challenged for a high ball.

Mackay-Steven had made a bright start, but the tricky winger was sacrificed as manager Houston brought on big defender Garry Kenneth to compensate for the loss of the right-back.

Celtic took advantage of the extra man to start dominating possession, but their normally lethal strike force of Stokes and Gary Hooper were having a lacklustre afternoon.

United continued to be a threat after the break and Daly sent a drive straight at Forster as the home side put the first effort of the second half on target.

However, Houston's men paid for their own adventure when an attack broke down and Celtic scored on the counter attack, Stokes' low cross being forced home from close range by Ledley from five yards after the Welshman showed more commitment than defender Gavin Gunning.

United lost Gunning to injury, with striker Milos Lacny on in his place and Daly going into central defence, and the striker squandered a great chance to level the scores after 69 minutes.

The one-time Celtic trialist latched on to Russell's head flick but screwed his drive from the edge of the box past the post.

Celtic immediately marched up the other end to score and Samaras rose to power home Charlie Mulgrew's curling free-kick high into the net from eight yards.

United could have hauled themselves back into the game when Russell found himself in the clear just inside the box but sent his powerful drive just over the crossbar.

Stokes contributed to the miss of the season archives when he cracked the ball off the crossbar from only 12 yards after a swift run from James Forrest presented the striker with an open goal.

Samaras swept an effort wide from wide range before Stokes pounced on a fine Ledley through ball to shoot low into the far corner.

There was still time for Sean Dillon to haul down Samaras and, although replays showed it was probably outside the box, Brown sent the spot kick low into the corner.

Live Text Commentary

Live Text Commentary
90:00 +2:13

The referee signals the end of the game.
89:57

The assist for the goal came from Georgios Samaras.
89:57 Goal scored

Goal – Scott Brown – Dundee U 0 – 4 Celtic Penalty scored by Scott Brown. Dundee Utd 0-4 Celtic.
88:25 Substitution

Substitution Lukasz Zaluska replaces Fraser Forster.
88:25

Sean Dillon challenges Georgios Samaras unfairly and gives away a Penalty.
87:18 Substitution

Substitution Anthony Stokes leaves the field to be replaced by Kris Commons.
85:34

Joe Ledley provided the assist for the goal.
85:34 Goal scored

Goal – Anthony Stokes – Dundee U 0 – 3 Celtic Anthony Stokes finds the back of the net with a goal from deep inside the penalty box to the bottom left corner of the goal. Dundee Utd 0-3 Celtic.
84:42

Effort on goal by James Forrest from just outside the penalty area goes harmlessly over the target.
83:34

Effort from inside the area by Georgios Samaras misses to the left of the goal.
81:41

The assistant referee signals for offside against Johnny Russell. Fraser Forster takes the indirect free kick.
81:00 Substitution

Substitution Patrick McCourt replaces Gary Hooper.
78:36

Anthony Stokes takes a shot.
77:35 Substitution

Substitution Stuart Armstrong is brought on as a substitute for Willo Flood.
77:35

Free kick awarded for a foul by Georgios Samaras on Willo Flood. Direct free kick taken by Dusan Pernis.
76:06

Anthony Stokes has an effort at goal from 20 yards. Save made by Dusan Pernis.
74:02

Effort from deep inside the area by Gary Hooper clears the bar.
72:59

Effort on goal by Johnny Russell from inside the penalty area goes harmlessly over the bar.
72:27

Garry Kenneth concedes a free kick for a foul on James Forrest. Fraser Forster takes the direct free kick.
70:46

Assist by Charlie Mulgrew.
70:46 Goal scored

Goal – Georgios Samaras – Dundee U 0 – 2 Celtic Georgios Samaras scores a headed goal from inside the six-yard box. Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic.
70:15

Free kick awarded for a foul by Willo Flood on Anthony Stokes. The ball is crossed by Charlie Mulgrew,
69:35

Georgios Samaras handles the ball and concedes a free kick. Willo Flood restarts play with the free kick.
68:59

Effort from deep inside the area by Milos Lacny misses to the right of the target.
67:39

Corner from the right by-line taken by Charlie Mulgrew, Scott Brown challenges Dusan Pernis unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Dusan Pernis.
65:51

Anthony Stokes gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Scott Robertson. Willo Flood takes the free kick.
65:09

John Rankin takes a shot from 35 yards and went wide right of the target.
64:20

Sean Dillon fouled by Anthony Stokes, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Dusan Pernis.
63:09

Anthony Stokes takes a shot. Save by Dusan Pernis.
62:57

Free kick awarded for a foul by Scott Robertson on Joe Ledley. Charlie Mulgrew restarts play with the free kick.
61:55

Unfair challenge on John Rankin by James Forrest results in a free kick. John Rankin takes the direct free kick.
60:18

Milos Lacny is caught offside. Fraser Forster takes the free kick.
58:20

James Forrest fouled by Willo Flood, the ref awards a free kick. Charlie Mulgrew crosses the ball from the free kick left-footed from left wing.
58:20 Substitution

Substitution Gavin Gunning goes off and Milos Lacny comes on.
54:53

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Anthony Stokes by Sean Dillon. Free kick crossed left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew from left wing, clearance made by Garry Kenneth.
53:49

Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew from the right by-line, Gavin Gunning makes a clearance.
52:19

Anthony Stokes provided the assist for the goal.
52:19 Goal scored

Goal – Joe Ledley – Dundee U 0 – 1 Celtic Joe Ledley finds the net with a goal from inside the penalty area to the bottom right corner of the goal. Dundee Utd 0-1 Celtic.
51:06

Scott Robertson concedes a free kick for a foul on James Forrest. Charlie Mulgrew delivers the ball from the free kick right-footed from right wing, clearance by Jon Daly.
50:35

Jon Daly takes a shot. Save by Fraser Forster.
47:30

Corner taken right-footed by Willo Flood from the left by-line, clearance by Victor Wanyama.
46:21

Outswinging corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew, John Rankin makes a clearance.
45:29

Georgios Samaras fouled by John Rankin, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Charlie Mulgrew.
45:01

The second half has started.
45:00 +1:23

The players leave the pitch at half time.
45:00 +0:14

Outswinging corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew, Anthony Stokes challenges John Rankin unfairly and gives away a free kick. Dusan Pernis takes the direct free kick.
41:57

Foul by Gary Hooper on Gavin Gunning, free kick awarded. Dusan Pernis restarts play with the free kick.
38:47

Inswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Willo Flood, free kick awarded for a foul by Gavin Gunning on Georgios Samaras. Fraser Forster takes the free kick.
34:35

Corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew, Effort on goal by James Forrest from inside the penalty area goes harmlessly over the bar.
33:43

Inswinging corner taken by Charlie Mulgrew from the right by-line, Paul Dixon makes a clearance.
28:00 Substitution

Substitution Garry Kenneth on for Gary Mackay-Steven.
28:00 Dismissal

Dismissal Robbie Neilson shown a red card.
27:48

Unfair challenge on Georgios Samaras by Robbie Neilson results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Charlie Mulgrew.
26:57

Free kick awarded for a foul by Scott Brown on Gary Mackay-Steven. Gavin Gunning takes the direct free kick.
24:20

Johnny Russell takes a shot. Fraser Forster makes a save. Jon Daly has an effort at goal from 6 yards.
24:20

Johnny Russell takes a shot. Save by Fraser Forster. Effort on goal by Jon Daly from 6 yards. Save by Fraser Forster.
22:36

John Rankin challenges Scott Brown unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Scott Brown.
20:29

Charlie Mulgrew crosses the ball in from the free kick, save by Dusan Pernis.
20:29 Booking

Booking Robbie Neilson receives a yellow card.
20:10

Free kick awarded for a foul by Robbie Neilson on Georgios Samaras.
15:31

Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Gary Mackay-Steven.
13:03

Outswinging corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew from the left by-line, Gavin Gunning manages to make a clearance.
9:33

Corner taken by Gary Mackay-Steven, Thomas Rogne manages to make a clearance.
8:42

Adam Matthews gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Gavin Gunning. Free kick taken by Gavin Gunning.
7:20

Headed effort from inside the penalty area by Jon Daly misses to the right of the target.
1:59

The referee blows for offside. Fraser Forster takes the indirect free kick.
0:00

The match has kicked off.

Transcript (taken from KDS forum)

Asked before today’s 4-0 win over Dundee United about the absence of a media conference as the club chases a treble Lennon didn’t miss with his reply.

The Celtic boss told Radio Scotland: “We decided not to do a press conference this week because of all the nonsense that’s going on elsewhere.

“There’s a lot of muck raking going on with some hacks, on your side of the fence, people like Traynor and that so we decided, so what, we’re not even going to bother with you this week.

“We’ll just go about our business quietly and do our talking on the pitch.”

Picked up about the mud raking claim Lennon added: “You know exactly what I mean. People have been trying to accuse our club of putting people out of work at Rangers, telling lies about agreements in place and stuff like that.

“It’s in the hands of our legal team and I’ll try my best not to say too much on that.

“It doesn’t bother me at all, we’ve just said that we’re not going to talk to anybody, put our heads down, don’t look at a newspaper.

“We want to talk about football, talk about our achievements, we’re hoping to get over the line this year and we’ll maintain that till the end of the season.

“A lot of media outlets are going to be disappointed because myself and the players won’t be speaking to them.”

Asked if that could be counter productive because the fans want to hear about the club Lennon was again on the front foot.

He added: “I don’t care, I’ll do it through the club if I have to. We’re nothing but professional, we’re nothing but respectful to the media and yet they do us no favours. They keep trying to throw things in our face and trying to make confrontations with people that aren’t there.

“Enough is enough, they’ve not done me any favours over the piece.”