THEY just about went through the Celtic opus before getting to Kieran Tierney.
There were chants for late, great legends Billy McNeill, Jimmy Johnstone and Tommy Burns.
Daizen Maeda celebrates goal[/caption]
Greg Taylor at the end[/caption]
The fans dusted down their song for Henrik Larsson.
There were also shout-outs for Scott Sinclair, Charlie Mulgrew, Odsonne Edouard and Artur Boruc.
Even ex-boss Martin O’Neill got a mention.
It was only deep into stoppage time – after Reo Hatate had sealed this league win after Daizen Maeda’s early strike – that KT’s name was heard.
This was the Green Brigade’s response to Brendan Rodgers’ comments about what they sing.
But when it was all over bar the shouting, the important thing for the vast majority of punters was that their team stretched their lead at the top of the table.
Rodgers’ side weren’t devastating by any stretch of the imagination.
But they did enough to get another three points on the board.
Dundee United are a team that’s been punching above its weight this season.
Sitting third in the table, they couldn’t have had a more impressive first half of the season.
So Celtic were never going to get it easy.
On paper, it looked like Jim Goodwin was prioritising Saturday’s clash with top-six rivals St Mirren.
He made no less than five changes to his line-up after the leggy, 1-0 defeat to Hearts at the weekend.
It was like he had one eye on Paisley.
On top of that, in their next half-dozen fixtures, five of those are away from home with the Tannadice game against Rangers.
Goodwin had to take all that into consideration when he was picking his side for this one.
That didn’t mean he was writing this one off.
But his game plan was all about defending deep, staying in the game and having a go late on. And it wasn’t far away from coming off.
Rodgers initially named the same line-up that beat Stephen Robinson’s Buddies 3-0 in the immediate aftermath to the Ibrox defeat to Rangers.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers after the William Hill Premiership match[/caption]
It was only a last minute change to the team-sheet which saw Nicolas Kuhn replaced by Hyunjun Yang.
They could maybe have done with having one most exciting and dynamic players of the season so far out on the pitch.
But while the Celtic supporters didn’t get the goals they were hoping for, it was still a deserved win.
United got men behind the ball and made no apology for it.
And for the most part they defended really well by closing down the space Celtic were trying to operate in.
But all it took was one little lapse in concentration for Rodgers’ side to take the lead after 23 minutes.
Luke McCowan dribbled into the box and hit a low shot which keeper Jack Walton saved.
But the ball only went as far as Maeda who was never going to miss.
Could the United keeper have pushed the ball out to the side? It certainly looked that way.
But midfielder Vicko Sevelj was more to blame for how cheaply he gave the ball away on the edge of his own box.
His attempted cushioned pass to team-mate Richard Odada was well intentioned.
But it wasn’t the time of the place to try and play.
Reo Hatate celebrates after his clinching goal[/caption]
When teams go to Celtic Park with a game-plan of sitting in and making life as difficult as possible for the defending champions they cannot afford to give the ball away so easily.
The visitors had survived an earlier scare when Auston Trusty clipped the crossbar with a header from a corner.
In terms of play going the other way in the first half, Celtic had next to nothing to deal with.
United ventured into their box once when the launched a free-kick into the mix. But other than that it was one-way traffic.
They threatened more after the break with Glen Middleton firing a shot over the top after good play from Kai Fotheringham.
Goodwin turned to his bench after an hour and threw on Dalby and Stephenson.
Given there was still only one goal in it there was always the possibility his men could break forward and nick a goal.
Celtic had chances to go 2-0 ahead.
Kyogo Furuhashi stepped off the bench to replace Adam Idah and hit the target with a near post headers from a corner but it was saved.
But Kasper Schmeichel made an even better stop to keep out a blasted effort from Middleton after 69 minutes.
The game as a contest certainly wasn’t over.
Reo Hatate’s goal makes it 2-0[/caption]
But with five minutes of normal time renaming the three points were finally sealed.
Celtic worked an opportunity off the with substitute Hatate finding himself in precisely the right place at the right time.
The Japanese midfielder still had loads to do to score.
But his left-foot finish was struck perfectly with the home support able to relax knowing the match was won.
It was then that the chant went up for Tierney before that section of supporters saluted their current side after the final whistle.
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