Maeda leads Celtic past Dundee United and to 16-point lead at the top
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Goals from Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate sent Celtic 16 points ahead of Rangers in the Premiership as the champions beat Dundee United 2-0 in a nostalgia-tinged night at Parkhead. Maeda netted on the rebound midway through an utterly one-sided first half as Celtic increased their lead, at least until Rangers face Dundee at Dens Park on Thursday.
The Celtic supporters who braved temperatures of -5C in Glasgow hid any tension as United proved hard to fully shake off though in a more competitive second period before Hatate killed off the game in the 83rd minute. Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, had called for some fans to be more patient after detecting groans at backward passes during his side’s 3-0 win over St Mirren. He had also accused supporters in the standing section of being disrespectful to left-back Greg Taylor by singing the name of transfer target Kieran Tierney.
The fans responded by reprising songs for a full team of other former players and manager Martin O’Neill. Songs about Artur Boruc, Mikael Lustig, Billy McNeil, Charlie Mulgrew, Tommy Burns, Victor Wanyama, Jimmy Johnstone, Scott Sinclair, Jota, Odsonne Édouard and Henrik Larsson all received an airing. The fans rounded off their back catalogue with a stoppage-time burst of their song about Tierney, who is believed to be close to agreeing a pre-contract deal to return to Parkhead.
Nicolas Kühn was a late withdrawal from an initially unchanged Celtic team. Yang Hyun-jun was promoted from the bench. United’s manager, Jim Goodwin, made five changes after observing a lack of energy in his team during Sunday’s defeat by Hearts, which ended a strong festive period that had started with a goalless home draw against the champions. The Premiership’s top goalscorer, Sam Dalby, was among those dropping to the bench while Kevin Holt was absent from the 20-man squad.
