United 1 Celtic 3

United went down to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Champions Celtic. Despite falling two down during a first half where Luis Zwick was outstanding, they got back in the game with a Chris Erskine penalty on the stroke of half time. United did threaten to equalise but a deflected McGregor shot won the game in what was a fairly comfortable victory for Celtic. By Gareth Scott Following the defeat at Hamilton last weekend, Jackie McNamara rang the changes for United for the visit of Celtic. Club captain Sean Dillon, Scott Fraser, Chris Erskine and Robbie Muirhead all started and there was a place on the bench for youngster Harry Souttar and fit again Ryan Dow. Gary Mackay-Steven was in the starting eleven for Celtic with their new signing, Scott Allan, listed amongst their substitutes. First Half The visitors certainly started the game on the front foot and early on Griffiths headed wide and the with four minutes gone Duran deflected a Commons shot on to the bar and the United defence cleared. Mulgrew then swung a direct free kick just over the United crossbar but with 16 minutes on the clock Celtic took a deserved lead. The ball was slipped through but despite an appeal for offside, Griffiths rounded Zwick and turned the ball into the empty net. Izaguirre then found Commons unmarked in the United box but he was denied by a fine Zwick save. Commons then tried to beat Zwick at the near post but the young United keeper turned the ball round the post. United then had a penalty appeal when Muirhead clashed with Bailly but the referee waved play on. Mackay-Steven and Commons then combined but with only Zwick to beat, Commons fired over. With half an hour gone Mulgrew floated the ball over the United defence, Commons latched on to the pass but a brilliant save from Luis Zwick kept the score at 1-0. United's keeper was in excellent form and he again kept United in the game when he saved from Griffiths after a pass from Mackay-Steven. Three minutes before half time United should have been level. Erskine found Spittal and he slipped the ball to McGowan but the big Aussie fired just wide. A minute later it was 2-0 in unfortunate circumstances. A speculative ball was played into the United box but the ball was deflected off the foot of Durnan past the helpless Zwick. This might have got to the home side but on the stroke of half time they were back in the match. Scott Fraser made a surging run into the box and he was upended by Ambrose. Chris Erskine took the resulting penalty and he calmly sent Bailly the wrong way. Second Half United started the second period in a confident mood and three minutes after the restart they carved out a good chance. Erskine and Spittal combined to set up Paul Dixon but he fired into the side netting. After a flurry of second half substitutions Scott Allan almost made an immediate impact when he almost caught Zwick off his goal line but the German keeper tracked back and easily caught his lofted effort. Mackay-Steven then tried to play in Stokes but Zwick slid in and took the ball from the feet of the Irishman. Fifteen minutes from the end Celtic once again extended their lead with a stroke of good fortune. Substitute McGregor gathered the ball 20 yards out and his shot deflected off Donaldson and wrong footed Zwick. United again almost immediately replied. A fabulous pass from Souttar picked out Erskine and his shot was palmed wide by Celtic's debutant goalkeeper Bailly. Towards the end of the game United twice had free kick at the edge of the Celtic penalty area and on both occasions Connolly forced Bailly to make decent saves. In the dying moments Stokes failed to connect with a Mackay- Steven cross and then Spittal broke in to the Celtic area but his shot was too weak to beat Bailly. Summing Up: United had their moments in the game but in terms of chances it was a comfortable win for the visitors. Having got back in the game they looked bright at the start of the second half but the two goals that went in off United's defenders pretty much summed up their day. Man of the match: In a first half dominated by Celtic, United's young goalkeeper Luis Zwick kept them in the game with a string of fine saves and he had a good day all round between the posts for United. Teams: United: Zwick, Dixon, Souttar, Erskine (Connolly 76), Dillon, McGowan, Fraser (Dow 55), Durnan, Muirhead (Murray 67), Spittal, Donaldson Subs : McCallum, Harry Souttar, Telfer, Coote Celtic: Bailly, Izaguirre, Ambrose, Griffiths (Allan 67), Stokes, Commons, Mackay-Steven, Rogic (Thomson 78), Mulgrew (McGregor 60), Janko, O'Connell Subs: Fasan, Scepovic, Kelleher,  Tierney Referee : William Collum Click here for the full report by Gareth Scott. Click here for our Flickr Gallery from the game.