FULL-TIME Dundee United 0-2 Celtic
Celtic are League Cup winners for the first time since 2009. The first part of a domestic treble is claimed, now for the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay in midweek against … Dundee United. Before they face each other in the league next Saturday. They deserved this win today and once Sean Dillon was shown a straight red at 0-1, there was going to be no way back for United. Thanks for reading. Bye!
90 min +1: Johansen, played in by Forrest, shoots over.
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
90 min: Fojut half-heartedly shoots. And misses the target.
89 min: Stokes cuts in from the left and shoots over with his right boot. Hopefully there isn’t too much added time.
88 min: Johansen has been given man of the match. Deservedly so. He has been head and shoulders above the rest out there this afternoon.
PENALTY SAVED!
What a dreadful take from Forrest. He’s passed it along the ground and straight at Cierzniak. He may have to answer some questions from Guidetti for that. It remains 0-2.
PENALTY FOR CELTIC!
85 min: It’s all going terribly wrong now. Forrest is dragged down by Dixon. Forrest will take it despite an argument with Guidetti who also wants it.
83 min: Johansen has been really good today. Celtic are pulling out the flicks and tricks now, teasing the United defence. Yet more cup final heartache for McNamara’s spirited side.
82 min: Henderson on for Bitton. That is Celtic’s final change of the game.
81 min: Erskine blasts well over at the other end. And lots of the United fans are heading for the exit.
79 min: Guidetti lays it off to Forrest, who picks his spot and side foots into the net with his right. That should be game over. It came after Morris made an incredible tackle to deny Guidetti initially but the ball broke kindly to Johansen who fed it back in.
GOAL! Dundee United 0-2 Celtic (Forrest)
79 min: Game, set and match, Celtic.
78 min: Dow’s delivery is hesitantly cleared by a nervy looking Gordon.
78 min: Hope lives on for the Tangerines! Dixon wins a corner off Denayer!
77 min: A rare United attack sees Dow find Erskine but Van Dijk covers well and makes a good interception.
75 min: Van Dijk heads wide from close range under pressure from Morris.
73 min: Stokes shoots wide after a lovely dummy from Johansen after an Izaguirre cutback from the left endline.
72 min: Another United sub: Erskine on for Paton.
71 min: Celtic are dominating possession but Dundee United are still holding firm. Denayer is the latest to waste a chance to make it 2-0 when heading a Johansen cross over from five yards. Poor from the centre-half.
69 min: Double substitution for Celtic now as Griffiths and Commons make way for Guidetti and Forrest.
68 min: Stokes spots Ambrose free on the right. His cross meets Griffiths near the penalty spot but the strike has too much on it and it sails over.
66 min: McGowan has been defending well on the right, in the area vacated by Dillon, since United have dropped to 10 men but Griffiths finally manages to get a cross in towards Johansen. Fojut is in place to clear. But only back as far as that flank again. Griffiths drives another cross in towards the near-post. Johansen is on hand to shoot but Fojut disrupts him enough for the attempt to miss the target.
Simon McMahon, understandably, is feeling sorry for himself at the moment. He’s emailed in:
A Dundee United AND a Scotland supporter. I must have been a VERY bad person in a previous life.
62 min: Celtic should be looking for a second to kill the tie off now but the game has become quite ragged since the sending off.
60 min: Bilate, who looked the most lively of Dundee United’s attacking players, is off in place of Anier. Ambrose, meanwhile, looks OK to continue.
58 min: Now Paton is booked for lunging in on Ambrose, who is down injured.
Sean Dillon is sent off!
55 min: The Dundee United captain comes in late and high on Izaguirre after a heavy touch near halfway. His studs are planted on the defender’s shin and the referee has no other option but to brandish the red card. There may not be any way back now.
54 min: United’s only obviously outlet to hurt Celtic is for Dow to pick the ball up deep and find a Bilate run in front of him. They have options on the bench, mind, but how long before McNamara makes a change and goes for attack?
51 min: Just as I write that, United break through Bilate but his shot from 25 yards is saved by Gordon, via a deflection off Denayer.
50 min: Celtic have United pinned back. All 10 men in tangerine are stuck in their own half. Struggling to see what they can do to get back into this game apart from keep it to 1-0 and throw everything forward in the final 15 minutes.
47 min: Stokes plays a neat give-and-go with Izaguirre before firing a cross towards Griffiths, who dives but cannot connect.
46 min: Well they’ve started by winning a corner inside 40 seconds. Dixon takes it short to Dow. dow gives it back and Dixon hits it towards the back-post. It’s cleared.
Peep!
Dundee United restart at Hampden. Can they acquire enough attacking impetus to fashion a comeback?
Half-time: Dundee United 0-1 Celtic
45 min + 3: They both get up and appear OK. And that’s the break. Commons’ goal, with United down to 10 men while Dillon’s injury was being attended to, separates them on the scoreboard but Celtic have been utterly dominant.
45 min + 2: Play is stopped again after an accidental clash of heads between Johansen and Morris.
45 min +1: Johansen and Stokes play a beautiful one-two but Butcher makes an important interception. Corner, taken by Stokes, is cleared by Dillon. Commons takes down the clearance with his right and shoots with his left. Saved by Cierzniak.
45 min: There will be two minutes added time.
44 min: Shout for a Celtic penalty as Griffiths goes down following a tangle with Fojut. It’s completely accidental and appears to be just outside the area. No matter, play continues despite the half-hearted claims.
42 min: Bit of a lull in play now. But Dillon is still not running freely – would not be surprised if there is a change at half-time.
39 min: Commons splits the United defence with a pass to Griffiths but Cierzniak is quick off his mark to hook the danger away.
36 min: … and from that United break. Bilate plays it to Dow who makes it into the area and hits the deck under pressure from Brown. There are claims for a penalty after Brown puts a very slight hand on his back but the referee waves play on to a chorus of boos from the Tangerines’ fans who are at the opposite end of the ground.
Updated
35 min: Commons turns after a Brown pass and shoots rapidly. Cierzniak is down to save. Celtic’s corner is taken by Stokes and cleared at the near post.
34 min: The Tangerines are getting a little tetchy now and McGowan is shown a yellow card for clattering Brown with a late challenge near halfway. Some mild shoving ensues and when it calms down against Stokes’ free-kick is claimed by Cierzniak.
32 min: This is abysmal organisation from the Tangerines! Spittal is now ready to come on five minutes after the injury and just as the fourth official’s board is about to go up to signify the change, Dillon rushes back and limps back onto the pitch. He is not fully comfortable.
30 min: I’m assuming Dillon is getting his leg stitched but still … Celtic are looking to exploit the advantage now. Griffiths smells blood and looks to be in but he’s just offside and play is halted. Can they produce a knockout blow?
28 min: Deila goes wild on the sideline as the ball comes in from the left and Commons watches his initial effort saved by a combination of Cierzniak and post. But the striker is on hand from close range to sweep the rebound home! The cross, of course, came from the side Dillon is meant to be patrolling – if he’s injured, should United have made a sub instantly?
GOAL! Dundee United 0-1 Celtic (Commons)
28 min: The man advantage counts for Celtic!
27 min: United have a free-kick. Dixon crosses it but there’s too much juice and the ball sails into Gordon’s hands.
26 min: Tough moment for Sean Dillon here. He goes in for a 50-50 with Van Dijk and comes off worse with the United physio immediately signalling for a change. But it looks like he could be staying on. his sock is ripped and he is hopping down the tunnel on one leg. United are down to 10 now but there does not appear to be a substitute getting ready. What a warrior!
25 min: Bitton plays in Commons with a lovely pass but the attacker fails to control.
23 min: Half-hearted claims for a Celtic penalty as Griffiths tumbles while shooting but McGowan has certainly made a good challenge and the game continues with Celtic playing it across the back.
22 min: Van Dijk involved again, shrugging off McGowan with such consummate ease that you can only sit back and smile at the difference in physical stature.
20 min: Van Dijk steps up and drags a long-range effort harmlessly wide. The BBC commentator, oddly, points out “the likes of John Terry don’t do that”. No, but … is he really comparing the two?
18 min: Van Dijk floats a pass towards Stokes but it’s cleared to Commons on the edge of the area. He tries to find the target but hit it so far over it almost bypasses the 20ish yard gap between fans and the pitch. In other words, it was a crap attempt.
17 min: Good chance for United’s Rankin. A long throw is flicked on by Bilate, Ambrose dives in carelessly, affording Rankin the opportunity to have a go but Gordon is alert in the Hoops’ goal to pounce on the ball.
15 min: Izaguirre looks eager to get forward and link up with Stokes. The wing-back meets a tasty crossfield ball near the endline only for his attempted cross to trickle out for a goal-kick.
14 min: Celtic enjoy a spell of possession across midfield and defence but cannot find a way to penetrate the United defence.
12 min: And that break ends with Morris hacking clear a Stokes cross from the left.
11 min: Now the Tangerines have a corner, won by Bilate. Dixon takes it, Denayer concedes another corner at the near post. The second delivery is cleared and Celtic break.
10 min: United have a free-kick on the edge of the area after Ambrose hacks down Dow. Dixon takes it in the absence of Ciftci, but the effort goes straight at the wall.
9 min: What a massive let off for Dundee United. Morris is in la la land and plays a dreadful pass towards Cierzniak. It’s too short – way too short – and Griffiths nips in but with the keeper caught between goal and player, the Celtic attacker’s effort hits the side-netting.
8 min: Izaguirre tries to find Griffiths down the left channel but the latter is slightly offside.
6 min: Dow picks Johansen’s pocket and breaks but there’s nobody up front to feed to and he runs into trouble. Celtic have the ball again.
4 min: It’s all Celtic so far but Stokes fails to control a Commons crossfield pass and United have a goal-kick and time to breath.
3 min: Celtic win a corner as Fojut heads away a Johansen cross from the left. Stokes takes it, Van Dijk powers a header towards goal and it’s cleared off the line by Dillon.
1 min: Griffiths, who scored the equaliser last weekend, is brushed off the ball as Celtic attempt to create an early attack.
Peep!
Celtic get us going, playing from right to left as we watch it, towards the Dundee United fans.
Here come the teams! We are moments from kickoff. Can Dundee United, minus Ciftci, cause a shock and bet their vaunted Glasgow opponents? Let’s see. Either way Hampden is packed, there’s good noise coming from both ends, and we are guaranteed plenty of feistiness.
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@guardian_sport @alansmith90 that's not the first time Scott Brown has been pictured sitting in the street this week
— David Cooke (@KwoodBear) March 15, 2015
Should have added unless your mother is Dutch. You’ll have to wait until 10 May for that.
@alansmith90 Spare a few thoughts for the Dutch mothers, who get their presents in Mayi.
— Michiel Jongsma (@JongsmaJongsma) March 15, 2015
Teams
Dundee Utd: Cierzniak, Dillon, Morris, Fojut, Dixon, McGowan, Butcher, Paton, Rankin, Dow, Bilate. Subs: Souttar, Erskine, Telfer, Connolly, Spittal, Szromnik, Anier.
Celtic: Gordon, Ambrose, Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguirre, Brown, Biton, Commons, Johansen, Stokes, Griffiths. Subs: Guidetti, Scepovic, Zaluska, Fisher, McGregor, Forrest, Henderson.
Referee: Bobby Madden.
An email! From our regular Scottish MBM fan, Simon McMahon, who is at Hampden.
Afternoon Alan. At Hampden with 18,000 fellow Arabs for the League Cup final. It’s a beautiful Sunday in Glasgow. However, our record in national cup finals is, how shall I put this, not good. Played 16, won four. Last time we featured on the MBM was in May last year for the Scottish Cup final against St Johnstone. I said then I’d happily retire from the MBM if we won. We lost 2-0. It’s also Mothers Day, so Mrs McMahon has come along to bring us luck. We all know how this is going to end, don’t we?
Preamble
If familiarity breeds contempt, these two must be close to despising one another. This is part two of a four-game duel in the space of 13 days but, first off, cast your mind back all of a week to that tempestuous Scottish Cup (not League Cup) quarter-final which ended 1-1. It was enjoyable, if only because they seemed adamant to kick seven shades of faeces out of one another. As a result, things are simmering nicely before this afternoon’s silverware decider.
The Tangerines finished with nine men, Celtic 10, at Tannadice after Paul Paton (in a case of mistaken identity; it should have been Calum Butcher) and Virgil van Dijk were dismissed following an early altercation. Both of those reds were rescinded, though United’s Paul Dixon was also dismissed for handling on the line.
“What happens in the last game is done,” said the United midfielder John Rankin. “We are not going to get involved in what happened the week before.” That is easier said than done. Add in that Celtic went and bought two of United’s best players recently – Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven – and there is a sense that the Tangerines are on something of a revenge mission. Both Armstrong and Mackay-Steven are cup-tied this afternoon, while United are without their star man Nadir Ciftci due to suspension. Celtic could welcome back Kris Commons following a thigh strain, but Charlie Mulgrew and Mikael Lustig remain absent.
It’s Dundee United v Celtic again! For the fourth time this season!! With two more fixtures to come after this!!! In the next six days!!!! And. It. Is. Live! At 3pm GMT from Hampden Park where tickets were a fairly priced £15.
Preamble extra
It’s mother’s day so if you’re lucky to be in the company of yours right now, turn around and give her a hug. Remember: you wouldn’t be here without her. In the words of Mr T, treat her right. And a special hello to my own too!
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