Celtic hammer Dundee Utd

Celtic 5 Dundee United 0

Celtic put their shyness in front of goal firmly behind them to notch up their first league win of the new season in style.

Dundee United should hve taken the lead through Collin Samuel after just two minutes but, instead, they were handed a lesson in finishing.

Goals from Shaun Maloney, Didier Agathe, Alan Thomson, Jackie McNamara and Henrik Larsson secured an easy three points for Martin O’Neill’s men.

The trip to East End Park saw Celtic searching for their first league goal of the season.

They should have gone behind had Samuel’s header not been swept off the line by Stanislav Varga.

Celtic recovered quickly and, with 16 minutes gone, Shaun Maloney opened Celtic’s goalscoring account for the new season.

Alan Thomson threaded the ball through the middle to the feet of Henrik Larsson and the Swedish striker fed Maloney who slotted the opener past goalkeeper Paul Gallacher.

The Hoops should have doubled their lead six minutes later when Larsson met a Thomson corner but his header was stopped by the crossbar.

Celtic looked like they were on a roll and they doubled their advantage after 26 minutes. The United defence were caught short when Thomson picked out the unmarked Didier Agathe at the far post and he had the simple task of tapping home from close range.

Celtic were given a chance to extend their lead right on half-time when Larsson was hauled down in the box by Gallacher and referee Alan Freeland immediately pointed to the penalty spot.

Thomson stepped up for the spot kick and he rattled home to hand Celtic a convincing lead at half-time.

United were able to enjoy a fair amount of possession after the re-start and they had a chance to pull a goal back through Billy Dodds but goalkeeper Magnus Hedman never really looked troubled by the header.

The former Rangers striker then tried to thread the ball through to Samuel but before he could pull the trigger, Bobo Balde had intercepted and cleared.

But gradually Celtic began to regain control and they were unlucky not to to add to their lead just after the hour mark.

Stilian Petrov squared the ball into the path of Varga on the corner of the 18-yard box and the Slovakian cannoned a shot at goal. The effort took a deflection and smashed off the post before the ball was quickly scrambled away by Jim Paterson.

But Celtic did not have to wait long for their next goal.

Miller and Maloney started the move before the ball was picked up by Thomson. He cut back to McNamara who was screaming for the ball just inside the box and the midfielder left Gallacher with no chance as he rattled home.

To their credit, Dundee United refused to give up hope and enjoyed a flurry of activity as the game headed towards the final 10 minutes.

Jim McIntyre had replaced Charlie Miller midway through the second half and he forced Hedman to block his shot from 15 yards.

McIntyre turned provider to set up Samuel at the far post but Balde was quicker to the ball and he cleared for a corner.

But there was one man still desperate to score for Celtic and Larsson did just that with seven minutes to go.

Varga flighted a long ball into the path of the striker and he showed his usual skill and composure to cheekily lob Gallacher from six yards to complete the rout.