Celtic 1 Dundee United 1

By: Matt | September 14th, 2009

Celtic could not take advantage of Rangers also getting a draw against Motherwell Saturday, as they draw Dundee United 1-1. United got on the scoreboard first early in the first half. Celtic equalized in the 17th minute with a Scott McDonald header. Those were all the goals the match had in it, or rather the referees would allow, with a seemingly good Georgios Samaras header disallowed halfway through the second half and a clear penalty chance denied when Dundee United clearly handled the ball in the box as the game drew to a close. Let’s quickly go through some talking points.
-Two goal scoring opportunities denied to Celtic by the Men In Black yesterday. The hand ball was a bang-bang play, so perhaps the ref just missed it, but the offsides call on Georgios Samaras was one of the worst calls I’ve seen. Georgios Samaras was so onside, it was funny. His right leg was, literally, behind the defender. Not only did the referee crew blow these calls, their calls were inconsistent and odd. It was clear Dundee United’s plan was to be physical with Celtic, something that was helped when the Man In Black refused to call a foul consistently. While I’m not saying there is a conspiracy, the officiating crew get my award for goat of the game and should be back calling pub league Sunday matches next week.

-With that being said, the referee did not blow the match for Celtic. Celtic seemed to be content with taking the ball into the final third and making one too many passes to allow Dundee United to take the ball. Shaun Maloney particularly represented that with me yesterday. His free kicks were awful and Maloney seemed to just not have a clue what to do with the ball.
-Tony Mowbray got the substitutions wrong on Saturday. Georgios Samaras was brought on for Landry N’Guemo and played out wide on the left? Uh….what? Samaras certainly doesn’t have the touch for that job. Paul Caddis was brought in for Marc Crosas. I’m sure Caddis was as surprised as all of us when his name was called. Finally, Koki Mizuno came in for Niall McGinn and was largely ineffective. Yes, the squad was light because of injuries and suspensions, but better choices could have been made.
-For a dose of optimism, Niall McGinn put in a good shift for his first start with Celtic. He looked to be a very creative and capable player most of the game on the wing, in the place of the suspended Aiden McGeady, and was one of the better players in the Hoops. Artur Boruc also saved the point for Celtic with some huge saves on Dundee United.