Houston has a problem as Celtic shoot down Terrors
With half an hour gone of an absorbing first half, the Senegalese striker latched on to a Marc-Antoine Fortune pass before curling an unstoppable shot past Dusan Pernis.
Tannadice substitute Jennison Myrie-Williams, on in the 62nd minute for Danny Swanson, was dismissed in controversial circumstances by referee Iain Brines for picking up two bookings.
However, any doubt over the destination of the points ended in the dying seconds when Keane scored from the spot after Pernis had fouled Aiden McGeady as the Hoops’ midfielder ran through on goal.
It was Celtic’s fifth SPL win in a row since Neil Lennon took over as interim boss and they were cheered off by the travelling fans at the end.
However Dundee United boss Peter Houston was less happy, claiming referee Iain Brines got two of the Tannadice side’s players mixed up when he sent off Myrie-Williams.
The United midfielder was only on the park for moments after replacing Danny Swanson in the 62nd minute when he was booked for a challenge on McGeady.
But there was some controversy in the 76th minute when Brines produced another yellow for a foul on Landry NGuemo after indicating it was for persistent fouling.
Houston believes Brines thought Williams was one of United’s other players, Prince Buaben.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “He got the wrong guy, let him come out and say it.
“He had spoken to Prince Buaben minutes before that after a tackle and said, ‘If you do that again you are going off the park.’
“I think he thought it was Prince.
“I thought it was really poor. When you start pointing all over the pitch for persistent fouling – to a guy who has been on the pitch for five minutes – he got it wrong.”
For his part, Lennon was full of praise for his side. He said: “Some of the football was magnificent. I thought we were different class and good value for the money.
“Brown was awesome and NGuemo was fantastic.”
Houston, though, was on a roll and informed of Lennon’s claim that only one side tried to play football, he snapped: “Maybe he should try and do it more often if he is quite happy with that.
“I don’t think we got anywhere near our standards but once he has been on an 11 or 12-match unbeaten run and gets to the Scottish Cup final, then maybe he can come back and say he is happy.
“I have been proud of the guys who have played super football and it has been written about so it is wrong to say that we didn’t try to play football.”
The only downside for Lennon was defenders Thomas Rogne and Glenn Loovens both having to go off with a recurrence of their hamstring injuries.
It was the first time that either had featured since February and Celtic finished the game with a central defensive partnership of Darren O’Dea and Mark Wilson.
Lennon said: “It was a gamble playing both of them and we will need to see how they are over the next few days.
“But O’Dea and Wilson were magnificent.
“We have a squad of players which are playing for each other, which is great.”
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