Celtic's new-found defensive solidity will matter just as much as their attacking flair in Scottish title race

Tom Rogic’s first-half opener was a thing of beauty and will be a strong contender for the Goal of the Season awards which are handed out come May – the Australian playmaker picked up the ball wide on the right, danced past three rival players and curled a delightful shot into the bottom left corner.

But much of the visitors’ attacking play on Tayside was impressive and it was a wonder the margin of victory wasn’t far greater than three at the end of a 90 minutes which they controlled.

READ MORE: Celtic title winner Morten Wieghorst on the vital skill that Ange Postecoglou's players are starting to master

Kyogo Furuhashi may not have increased his tally for the 2021/22 campaign to 15. But the Japanese striker was his usual box of tricks and caused the home side no end of problems with his movement and pace.

Elsewhere, James Forrest, Mikey Johnston, David Turnbull, Callum McGregor and Liel Abada all showed great creativity when they got on the ball in the final third.

That Celtic were able to produce such a fine performance in a potentially awkward away game without Jota, Georgios Giakoumakis, Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh was pleasing for their manager Ange Postecoglou. There is a hectic schedule of fixtures to negotiate in December.    

But their defensive display against United and their second consecutive clean sheet will have been every bit as satisfying for the Greek-Australian coach. Going two games without conceding is a clear indication that significant progress is being made in a vital area. The improvement augurs well for their title challenge.

Postecoglou has often given the impression that he is unconcerned if his side let in a couple of goals as long as they bang in three since arriving in Scotland back in June. The Parkhead club’s supporters have enjoyed the devil-may-care approach. When, that is, it has worked. 

The ease with which Celtic have allowed their rivals to net, not least at set pieces, has still caused alarm in the stands at times. After all, their failings at the back proved hugely costly last term as their bid to complete 10-In-A-Row ended in disappointment and acrimony.

It has taken time for new arrivals Cameron Carter-Vickers, the United States internationalist who joined on a season-long loan from Spurs, and Carl Starfelt, the Swedish cap who was a £4.5m acquisition from Rubin Kazan, to settle. There were some less than convincing performances in their early weeks. At times, the pair were downright awful.

When Starfelt sliced an innocuous looking cross into his own net in the Europa League play-off match against AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands back in August it looked very much as if the substantial transfer fee it took to secure his services had not been money well spent.

But one of Postecoglou’s great strengths since succeeding Neil Lennon has been not allowing the over-the-top reaction to poor showings or bad results to influence his thinking. He knew that a completely new defence would take time to gel and kept faith with his signings when questions were being asked about whether they were good enough.

Carter-Vickers has come good as has Starfelt. The latter was, despite not featuring for a month due to injury, immense in the 1-0 triumph over Hearts at Parkhead last Thursday evening and was untroubled in the encounter with United yesterday. He has been good in the air and in possession and shown he can cope with the physicality of the game here.

The only time that Celtic looked fallible yesterday, admittedly against hosts who disappointed, was when Joe Hart fresh-aired an attempted clearance early on. That is something the former England goalkeeper, who has otherwise been excellent, must continue to work on going forward. But the rearguard functioned well as a whole and gave their fans hope that exciting times, and silverware, lie ahead.

AND ANOTHER THING

Another week of wearisome refereeing controversies in Scottish football came to an end yesterday with a row over the shocking challenge by Dundee United midfielder Calum Butcher on Celtic playmaker David Turnbull.

Television replays showed that Butcher deserved to have been shown a red card by match official Don Robertson early in the second-half at Tannadice. The player can have no complaints if he is cited by the SFA compliance officer in the coming days and punished retrospectively.

But the incident was further evidence, as if any was really required, that VAR is needed at the top level of the sport here. If Robertson had been able to review the incident on a pitchside monitor then United would unquestionably have been reduced to 10 men.

The governing body’s 42 member clubs will vote on introducing the technology in the Premiership and latter rounds of cup competitions at their general meeting in February. If it gets the go-ahead then it could be rolled out next December following the World Cup in Qatar. It cannot be brought in soon enough.