Celtic 2-0 Dundee United: Maeda stars to send leaders 16 points clear

Daizen Maeda starred for Celtic as the Scottish Premiership leaders moved 16 points clear at the summit after beating a spiriting Dundee United 2-0 at Celtic Park.

Maeda opened the scoring before teeing up Reo Hatate late on, as Brendan Rodgers’ side pulled further clear of rivals Rangers, who take on Dundee on Thursday.

The hosts made a dominant start to proceedings and went close to finding the opener through Auston Trusty, but his header from Arne Engels’ corner rattled the crossbar.

Celtic eventually hit the front in the 23rd minute when Maeda finished from close range after Jack Walton had spilled Luke McCowan’s effort into his path.

After rarely troubling Kasper Schmeichel in the opening period, United registered their first effort on target in the 69th minute when Glenn Middleton tested the Dane from distance.

The visitors continued to carry a threat after the break as an air of nervousness was present around the stadium, but those nerves were settled eight minutes from time.

Maeda this time turned provider as his cutback was left by Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo, allowing substitute Hatate to sweep home from inside the box.

Data Debrief: Dundee’s Celtic woes continue

Brendan Rodgers will be happy with the way his side have responded since their 3-0 thrashing against Rangers, but will be cautious about their second-half showing on Wednesday.

Celtic, however, are now unbeaten in 21 meetings with Dundee United in all competitions (won 16, drawn five) since a 2-1 league defeat in December 2014 under Ronny Deila.

They are also unbeaten in their last 22 home league games against newly promoted opponents (won 19, drawn four) since a 1-0 defeat to Hamilton in October 2014.

The Bhoys have won each of their last 11 such games in a row, scoring 40 goals while conceding just four.