It was a long afternoon at Tannadice as Celtic were crowned champions. 

Dundee United 0

Celtic 5 (Strain OG 30', Kühn 38', 45+3', Idah 47', 58')

12:30pm Saturday 26 April 2025

The CalForth Construction Arena at Tannadice Park

William Hill Premiership

Attendance: 13,568

Images: Richard Wiseman (Club Photographer)

Written by: Lyall MacDonald

The Team Talk

Jim Goodwin made four changes to the team that defeated St Johnstone last time out, in what was our third straight 1-0 victory.

Allan Campbell, Craig Sibbald, Vicko Ševelj and Ruari Paton came in for Kristijan Trapanovski, Declan Gallagher and Sam Cleall-Harding, with Luca Stephenson also out after returning to Liverpool for surgery.

There were two DUFC Academy graduates in the squad for our first top-six fixture, with Sibbald marking his 100th appearance in tangerine. 

Standing Firm Early On

United coped well with the early possession from the visitors, with Daizen Maeda looking to latch on to a lofted pass over the United defence, but Jack Walton was equal to it and gathered the ball before the Celtic number 38 had a sight of goal.

The first ten minutes went by with little goalmouth action, with Ross Docherty threatening with a headed effort from a Ryan Strain cross; however, his header flew over the bar. Sam Dalby was next to test the Celtic defence after a neat lay-off from Ruari Paton; however, his shot was of no danger to Viljami Sinisalo in the Celtic net. 

We looked comfortable during the first twenty minutes, with the visitors rarely testing Walton in the United goal.

Reo Hatate attempted to find Nicolas Kühn at the back post as the visitors surged forward; however, the Celtic right-winger couldn’t connect with the ball, and the chance was squandered. Two corners in quick succession for the visitors yielded little attacking threat, with United standing firm to the growing Celtic pressure.

Daizen Maeda found free space in the United box and looked to have the best chance of opening the scoring; however, his headed effort into the ground was little threat to our goal.

Visitors Take Control 

It wasn’t long before the first goal of the afternoon arrived, with the visitors breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark. An Arne Engels corner from the right-hand side was met by the head of Liam Scales, who flicked on to the back post, with Ryan Strain’s attempted clearance deflecting into the net as he looked to deny Jota.

The second goal arrived soon after, with Brendan Rodgers' side increasing their lead in the 38th minute. A lofted cross-field pass from Engels found Maeda in acres of space on the left-hand side of the United box as he charged towards goal. His whipped cross to the back post found Kühn, who made no mistake and added a second, leaving us with a mountain to climb as we approached half-time.

The visitors increased their lead in first-half injury time, with Maeda once again finding space on the left side of the United box. His cutback was dummied by substitute Adam Idah, finding Nicolas Kühn to complete his brace — Celtic’s third — in a repeat of the combination that scored the second.

Celtic Turn the Screw

Any hopes of a dramatic United comeback were short-lived, as Celtic began the second half in the same rampant fashion as they ended the first, with a well-worked move rewarding a fourth goal. Nicolas Kühn was found in space on the right-side byline, with his pass down the line finding Alistair Johnston. The Canadian right-back managed to find the head of Adam Idah in the six-yard box, who nodded in for Celtic’s fourth of the afternoon.

Celtic were in no mood to let up despite being four goals to the good, with Adam Idah quickly joining Nicolas Kühn with a brace of his own for the fifth goal of the game. The Celtic number 9 found space in the box after a pass from Callum McGregor, and his low drive was enough to beat Walton.

Petering Out

We struggled to maintain any sort of foothold in the second half, as the visitors enjoyed much of the possession and many attempts on goal. Celtic came close to a sixth goal after Hatate found Johnston on the right-hand side of the box; the Celtic right-back’s cross ricocheted off Allan Campbell to find Idah at the back post, and his effort flashed wide.

Celtic missed a further opportunity to add to their large lead, this time Paulo Bernardo blazing over the bar after Jeffrey Schlupp and Daizen Maeda combined to set the midfielder up. The remainder of the second half continued in a similar fashion, as the visitors asserted their dominance but were unable to add to their lead, and the game finished 0-5 to crown Celtic Premiership champions for the 13th time in 14 years.

Post-Match Thoughts

Teamlines

Dundee United

Starting XI: Walton, Strain, Ševelj, Ferry, Sibbald, Middleton, Adegboyega, Dalby, Paton, Campbell, Docherty (c)

Subs: Richards, Trapanovski, Moult, Babunski, Fotheringham, van der Sande, Gallagher, Cleall-Harding

Celtic

Starting XI: Sinisalo, Johnston, Taylor, Scales, Filipe, Kühn, Carter-Vickers, Engels, Maeda, Hatate, McGregor (c)

Subs: Bain, Trusty, Idah, McCowan, Schlupp, Kenny, Bernardo, Forrest, Ralston

Next Up

A sold-out Shed-End awaits as we travel to Easter Road next Saturday afternoon!

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