Dundee United dealt a major blow to Celtic’s defense of their Scottish Premiership title with a shock 2-0 win at Tannadice to keep their top six ambitions alive.
The champions now trail leaders Hearts by five points and rivals Rangers by two as they suffered a second domestic defeat since Martin O’Neill’s return to the club.
Will Ferry’s first goal for almost two years and Emmanuel Agyei’s first goal for the Tangerine in January gave United a second successive home win over Celtic and the first since 1991.
They have closed the gap on sixth-placed Falkirk to six points with two games in hand, but will also need to overturn a seven-point goal difference to secure the most unlikely first-half finish.
Celtic puffed and puffed on a weather-beaten surface but lacked quality in the final third and deservedly lost to Jim Goodwin’s ruthless outfit.
What will happen in the Scottish Premiership?
United collapsed from a 2-0 lead in the Dundee derby last week. This time it was the opposite.
In fact, it may have been more than that.
The pressure was on the champions after title rivals Hearts and Rangers won their respective games on Saturday, and it showed.
O’Neill’s side were set to be boosted by the return of influential captain Callum McGregor and striker Kelechi Iheanacho, but each lasted just 56 minutes.
Despite reintroducing the metronome, Celtic lacked rhythm and never looked like scoring.
Max Watters and Ferry came close to finding the opener in the first half as the hosts saw themselves played on the counter with little threat from the passive visitors.
Kieran Tierney scored once and Ashley Maynard-Brewer made a fine save to deny Iheanacho, but those were the chances in the first half.
The pitch was dry, shaky and sandy. It’s not necessarily conducive to good football, but that’s no excuse for Celtic’s lack of toughness.
Perry punished them six minutes into the second period.
A sweeping counter brought the two wing-backs together as Luca Stevenson picked out his team-mate who converted at the back post.
And they didn’t stop there.
Agyei added a sublime second goal 15 minutes later when he curled a first-time effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after a poor clearance.
Vicko Sevelj, Amar Fatah and Ferry tried again to secure third place as the champion was defeated.
Apart from Reo Hatate’s speculative effort, which was almost dropped into his own goal by Maynard-Brewer, and Daizen Maeda’s sliding effort from a wide angle, O’Neill’s men failed to create any real chances.
They dominated possession, but that was the only indicator they had of outscoring their opponents.
With the international break just around the corner, this bitter defeat will once again be ingrained in the minds of Celtic supporters who know the title is not within their grasp.
There are 7 games left. 8th loss of the season.
