Gary Hooper scored the only goal of the game as Celtic defeated Dundee Unietd 1-0 at Tannadice on Sunday.
The victory, which was secured early on, takes the Bhoys back to within four points of Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers, who returned to winning ways themselves when beating Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday.
Neil Lennon’s men were inches away from a perfect start when Georgios Samaras coasted into the left of the penalty area and fired across a ball that the sliding Anthony Stokes missed by a whisker. The Irishman soon headed another chance over from a James Forrest cross, but it was not too long before his side were celebrating the opener.
Hooper took possession of the ball on the right of the area from Forrest’s pass, before setting himself up to fire a low drive to the far corner of Dusan Pernis’ net.
The Slovakian goalkeeper was back on his feet to deny a close-range attempt from Forrest soon after, before a first real chance for United when former Hearts and Leicester man Robbie Neilson headed tamely into the arms of Bhoys stopper Fraser Forster.
Stokes spurned two further opportunities before the break, while Bhoys full back Cha Du-Ri also blazed high and wide, as Celtic went in with just the one-goal advantage.
A turgid second half would follow, in which the home team remained second best as they failed to conjure up the sort of gameplan to combat the men in green and white.
It was pretty scrappy from both sides in truth though. A rare Dundee United break saw John Rankin shoot and be blocked when he had better–placed team-mates, while at the other end Neilson’s head took a severe whack when it got in the way of a fizzed effort from Adam Matthews.
A powerful shot from distance from Willo Flood showed the sort of ambition United had lacked for most of the afternoon, however it was nowhere near the goal as his side remained in arrears.
Back up the other end Celtic substitute Ki Sung-Yeung twice saw late efforts blocked by Gavin Gunning and Pernis, but one goal proved to be enough for the visitors.