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There was a period when the sat-nav system on the Celtic team bus may have issued a warning signal whenever the G40 postcode was breached.
When Ange Postecoglou’s side won at Pittodrie on October 3, it was the first time in eight months that the Parkhead men had registered a triumph on the road domestically.
Since then nine wins and two draws have been racked up in jig time to secure progress in the league and Scottish Cup. Such an extraordinary turnaround in fortunes is proving to be the cornerstone of the most unlikely Treble tilt in living memory.
Giorgos Giakoumakis scored twice as Celtic beat Dundee United on Monday night
Rangers, naturally, will provide a formidable barrier when the sides meet twice in a fortnight across both competitions next month. No one ever said making history comes easy.
Seeking stop a side going for a 30th league glue and cup game unbeaten, Thomas Courts did not need his Dundee United players to do Celtic any favours here.. Somehow they managed to do so twice.
While Nicky Clark could not be faulted for redirecting Callum McGregor’s early strike away from the grasp of Benjamin Siegrist, the Swiss keeper will have nightmares about the fumble which allowed Giorgos Giakoumakis to claim the first of two goals he’d score on the night.
It proved to be an emphatic victory for Postecoglou’s side in the end but truthfully it was one that came without them engaging top gear. They never really had to.
United started brightly here but faded badly. Hopes of making it to the last four of the Scottish Cup for the second successive season pretty much lasted as long as it took for McGregor to open the scoring.
Courts’ men have been a tough team to predict this season but their two displays at Celtic Park in particular gave rise to optimism among their support that they could send Postecoglou’s men tumbling.
On the night, they lacked fluency and punch in the final third. Joe Hart left the building having failed to make a meaningful save. There are ways to lose cup ties. And this was certainly not it.
A deflected shot from Callum McGregor gave the visitors a half-time lead
Postecoglou had to make do without the services of Jota and Liel Abada here – 24 goals between them this season – but the increased depth his shown has shown since the turn of the year mitigated those losses.
Starting with Clark partnering Marc McNulty up front, Courts sent his team out with attacking intent. From the first second it was apparent they would try to fight fire with fire.
On a less than perfect surface, their directness asked some awkward early questions although not enough to ever call Hart into action.
Daizen Maeda’s long looping shot evaded Siegrist and landed harmlessly on the roof of the net but it was all the encouragement the visitors needed.
Having seen Celtic win a corner on the right, United should have required no clue as to what came next.
In keeping with Celtic’s style, Matt O’Riley took it short to James Forrest. Afforded too much space by Courts’ men, the winger rolled in McGregor.
A blunder from goalkeeper Ben Siegrist resulted in a tap-in for Giakoumakis
Adhering to the principle that you need to shoot in order to score, the skipper got over the ball and let fly from the edge of the box. A significant deflection off Clark rendered Siegrist a bystander.
United’s bright start has amounted no nothing. The sight of Ian Harkes subsequently hobbling off injured was the last thing they needed. Courts would have been thankful that his side did not fall further behind in the three minutes it took to get Kevin McDonald on the field.
Maeda wasn’t enjoying much luck in front of goal. Flagged offside in one instance as he looked to chip the keeper, he was then denied a tap-in by an earlier handball against Giakoumakis.
The energy and aggression of both sides compensated for a lack of general quality.
Reo Hatate’s appeal for mercy to referee John Beaton after a lunge on Kieran Freeman suggested the Celtic midfielder feared he’d crossed the line. A yellow card sufficed.
As ever, Celtic took risks when playing out from the back but rarely looked in danger. United huffed and puffed but struggled to penetrate. The sight of Cameron Carter-Vickers repeatedly heading the ball calmly into Hart’s arms was all too commonplace from their perspective.
Not that Celtic were exactly peppering Siegrist’s goal. McGregor did well to drop a shoulder and advance but sent his shot into the stand. Carter-Vickers did hit the target in the closing seconds of the first half but Ryan Edwards stood up tall to block.
Hatate remained indoors at the break with Tom Rogic, who’d run riot here in Celtic’s win in December, his replacement.
The striker sealed victory by helping on an effort from substitute Karamoko Dembele
The Australian’s impact was immediate, sending Giakoumakis goal-side of Calum Butcher. The United man was booked for taking down the Greek but O’Riley’s free-kick from a promising position was weak.
With United’s frustrations growing at their error-strewn display, Ilmari Niskanen was next to have his name taken for a scything of Josip Juranovic.
That was nothing to how Courts’ players must have felt about the manner in which Celtic all but put the tie beyond them.
For four years, you could count the number of soft goals Siegrist has let in for United on one hand.
Seeing Maeda’s tame cross float towards the Swiss then, the United fans behind the goal had few fears. What happened next was a personal catastrophe for the keeper.
A horrible fumble in his goalmouth gave Giakoumakis a sniff. Credit to the Greek for staying alert and burying the ball low at the near post.
Siegrist did make some amends with a fine low save to deny Greg Taylor but the noise was only now coming from one set of supporters.
Postecoglou threw on Karamoko Dembele, James McCarthy and Mikey Johnston as he tried to lock down the victory. United never had the wit or belief to deny them.
Dembele might well have claimed the third with two minutes remaining. Edwards’ intervention took the sting off his shot but Giakoumakis was again on hand to convert from close range.
He has now scored nine goals in Celtic colours. Eight of them have come this year. It’s fair to say he has turned the corner. Postecoglou’s side did that some time ago.
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