Camilo Duran off the mark as Celtic power past Dundee United

CAMILO DURAN NETTED his first Celtic goal as Martin O’Neill’s side swept to a 4-0 victory over Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup.

O’Neill was in the Tannadice dugout after missing last Sunday’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock following a hospital procedure and his team continued their perfect start to the domestic season with another ultimately convincing win.

Auston Trusty, Sebastien Tounekti, and Benjamin Nygren were also on target as Celtic progressed to the quarter-finals.

However, the scoreline was harsh on a United side who hit the frame of the goal five times.

O’Neill handed debuts to new signings Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan off the bench ahead of the first leg of the Champions League play-off against LASK of Austria on Wednesday.

Advertisement

Celtic were also able to rest Kieran Tierney as Liam Scales came in at left-back after missing the first two league games of the season through suspension.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was recalled in place of West Ham-bound Arne Engels, while Colby Donovan replaced the injured Alistair Johnston at right-back and Tounekti came in for the absent Yang Hyun-jun.

United hit the post twice in the opening 15 minutes through Julius Eskesen and Emmanuel Agyei after Celtic failed to deal with a long throw and a long ball.

But the tie soon looked beyond the hosts as Celtic netted twice in two minutes midway through the first half.

Trusty opened the scoring from Nygren’s corner when he got a couple of yards on his marker with a near-post run and steered a backwards header into the far corner.

Duran soon got off the mark for real in a Celtic jersey after a prolific pre-season run. The Colombian scooped the ball home from six yards after Kasper Hogh had slid in to compete for Oxlade-Chamberlain’s driven ball across the goalmouth.

The ball appeared to hit Hogh’s hand after bouncing off his body but the goal stood after a VAR check.

Celtic created several chances towards the end of the half, the best falling to Hogh at the back post after good link-up play with Duran. The Dane could not get his effort on target.

Zac Sapsford hit the bar from the edge of the box as United started brightly in the second half but Tounekti made it 3-0 in a 56th-minute counter-attack, collecting a pass from Nygren and driving home from 20 yards.

Bert Esselink headed off the post for United before Nygren got his third goal of the season with a wonderful finish in the 63rd minute. Celtic quickly worked the ball forward after Trusty won an aerial challenge and Tounekti set up the Swede to fire just inside the post from 18 yards.

Former Paderborn midfielder Baur and Egypt winger Hassan were given an introduction to Scottish football with the game all but over and the final insult for United came in the closing seconds when substitute Mehdi Merghem hit the bar from 25 yards.