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SPL: Dundee United 1 Celtic 4 |
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Monday, 16 October 2006 |
 Sorry United go down 4-1 against Celtic in the Scottish Premier clash
| SPL - Tannadice Park | Attendance: 10,504 |
| | Noel Hunt (5)
| | Shunsuke Nakamura (44)
Shunsuke Nakamura (48)
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (52)
Shunsuke Nakamura (58)
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| A Shunsuke Nakamura hat-trick helped Celtic to a 4-1 win over Dundee United in a one-sided Bank of Scotland Premier League encounter at Tannadice. United striker Noel Hunt gave the home side a fifth-minute lead with a 20-yard drive, before Barry Robson passed up a great chance to double the Taysiders' advantage, mis-kicking just six yards from goal. However, Nakamura's equaliser just before the break set the tone for the rest of the game and two more goals by the Japan international after the break, one either side of a Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink strike, completed the rout. The visitors survived the early scare to come through strong winners, but who knows where United, with only two wins in their last 26 SPL games, go from here. After an unremarkable start to the match, it was the home side who took the lead in the fifth minute thanks to an error by Hoops keeper Artur Boruc. After Celtic defender Stephen McManus sustained a head injury in a challenge with Collin Samuel, the ball arrived at the foot of Tangerines' striker Hunt 20 yards from goal. As play seemed to freeze for a second, the Irishman took a touch before unleashing a right-footed shot from just outside the box. The effort did not seem powerful and Hunt was as surprised as most inside Tannadice when Boruc allowed the ball to squirm between his hands at the far post. Celtic stormed back and in the 16th minute Shaun Maloney outpaced David Proctor inside the United penalty area, but sent his angled shot from 12 yards whistling past the far post. However, two minutes later the Taysiders should have doubled their lead. When Samuel went past McManus easily on the right, his cut-back eventually fell to the unmarked Robson at the back post, but somehow, from six yards out, the former Inverness midfielder mis-hit his shot and the ball went wide. On the half-hour mark Celtic mounted yet another attack. United goalkeeper Derek Stillie could only parry a 25-yard snap-shot by Jiri Jarosik and, moments later, Vennegoor of Hesselink headed wide from close range. But, in the 44th minute, Celtic got the reward their dominance deserved. Nakamura latched on to a Jarosik header to slip home the equaliser from around six yards. Stillie then made a great save from Jarosik's powerful header as the Hoops turned on the pressure. Punch-drunk United would have been glad to hear the half-time whistle, but only three minutes after the interval they found themselves behind. A Lee Naylor throw from the left was flicked on by Vennegoor of Hesselink to Jarosik, who missed his attempted overhead kick 12 yards from goal. However, as the home defence hesitated, the ball fell kindly to Nakamura at the back post and for the second time in the game he coolly guided it past Stillie. The Hoops were rampant now and in the 52nd minute they tied up the three points when they grabbed a well-worked third goal. As the Tannadice side back-tracked towards their own goal, a clever Maloney pass at the edge of the United penalty area picked out Vennegoor of Hesselink racing through and the Dutchman took the ball in his stride before drilling it past Stillie. It was embarrassingly one-sided now and in the 58th minute Nakamura completed his hat-trick when he took a Jarosik pass 16 yards from goal and curled a left-footed shot beyond Stillie. McManus had a shot from 12 yards cleared off the line by Mark Kerr, although Hunt then drove a left-footed shot just wide from 25 yards at the other end. In the final minute Kerr sent a drive from distance inches past Boruc's right-hand post, but, by then, the three points were Glasgow-bound, with the bedraggled Taysiders looking back to Robson's first-half miss and what could have been. |
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