Celtic’s title hopes may have blown up before their very eyes as they suffered a 2-0 loss against Dundee United.
The state of the Dundee United pitch didn’t do either team any favours as they both struggled to get themselves going in an uneventful first half but Celtic’s sloppiness on the ball was punished as Will Ferry was on hand to bundle the ball home from a Luca Stephenson cross.
Things went from bad to worse as Dundee United doubled their lead after failing to clear their lines before Emmanuel Agyei’s drilled effort from the edge of the box came off Liam Scales’ foot, moments after Reo Hatate saw his shot tipped onto the post.
Martin O’Neill’s questionable team selection will leave a lot to be desired and there are serious concerns that the title race may be over for them.
Your INSTANT REACTION to that loss 😡
Is the title race over?
Celtic player ratings
Viljami Sinisalo – 5
Will be disappointed with the way he conceded both goals but can he be blamed for the awful passages of play from the outfielders who are there to make his life easier?
Colby Donovan – 4
His crossing in the final third needs serious work and he must be stronger when defending.
Benjamin Arthur – 4
Really struggled today and didn’t look comfortable. His passing was all over the place, his positioning was off and he couldn’t cope with the physicality.
Liam Scales – 4
Scales looked out of position numerous times and seemed to waste too much time on the ball, inviting pressure from the Dundee United attackers. Not good enough.
Kieran Tierney – 5
Probably the best of a bad bunch but the bar is very low.
Callum McGregor (C) – 3
A terrible pass to give away the ball in the build-up to Dundee United’s opener. He wasn’t up to speed and shouldn’t have played.
Reo Hatate – 3
Was really quiet again. He seems to play better when McGregor isn’t in the side but was beaten far too easily for the second goal.
Benjamin Nygren – 3
This is the sort of game you need your top goalscorer to step up and provide a moment of magic. He didn’t do that and his set pieces were terrible.
Hyunjun Yang – 4
Couldn’t follow up his excellent performance against Motherwell. With nobody capable of competing with him for his position properly, it makes it very hard to justify dropping him.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 3
Was given a chance by O’Neill after Tomas Cvancara was ruled out through illness but didn’t take his chance. A lack of game time is clear and he looked shattered before the whistle had even blown for half time.
Daizen Maeda – 3
It is getting sick and tiring of repeating the same old thing with Maeda. Absolutely no involvement in the game at all. He’s just waiting for the season to end.
What can Celtic do to help Daizen Maeda get back to his best?
Substitutes
Sebastian Tounekti – 5
At least tried to take on his full-back but was chasing a lost cause given how the rest of the game had gone.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 4
Brought on to provide some extra experience in the middle of the park when McGregor came off but couldn’t affect the game.
James Forrest – N/A
Junior Adamu – N/A
Luke McCowan – 4
No real impact apart from having a free-kick hit the wall.
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