Celtic's shot flood ends level as Dundee Utd hit back twice

Celtic and Dundee Utd shared four goals at Celtic Park, but the shots and the ball show a more uneven match than the 2-2 scoreline suggests.

Celtic had most of the ball at Celtic Park, and they took far more shots than they usually do at home. They kept 65% of possession, a little above the 59.1% they average at home this season, and they fired 28 shots against a usual 19.2. Dundee Utd, who normally keep about half the ball when they travel, were pushed back to 35% here, so this was a game of two very different shapes.

Celtic were ahead inside twenty minutes, when Camilo Duran scored with Kasper Hogh credited for the assist. Dundee Utd then replied within three minutes. Zachary Sapsford scored after a pass from Lyall Cameron, and Neil Farrugia added a second before the half was over. Both goals came quickly, and the second one arrived just as Celtic seemed to be settling into the match.

Expected goals, a rough measure of how good the chances were rather than how many went in, tells a sharper story. Celtic's figure for the game was 1.41, well short of the 3.23 they average at home, so their chances were largely speculative. Fourteen of their shots came from outside the box, which helps explain why so much volume produced so little clear-cut danger.

Dundee Utd took a different route. They had 11 shots, below the 14.3 they average away from home, and their expected goals of 0.93 sat under their usual 1.17. Yet they scored two, which is more than their away average of 1.4, and their goalkeeper made five saves to keep the lead in place for long periods. Dundee's chances were fewer and, on the numbers, weaker, but they were finished.

Celtic did get back into the game. Liam Scales scored at 65 minutes, with Jota credited for the assist, and the home side pushed for a winner that never came. Celtic's own conceding was the other side of the story: two goals against is well above the 0.6 they usually concede at home, and it cost them a result they had built through sheer possession and shot count.

The four goals were more than the 2.8 that an average Premiership game in this league produces, so the match was livelier than most. Each side also had more or fewer shots than usual in the way that suited the scoreline, and that is why the result reads as a draw rather than a clear winner. Neither side could turn volume into a clean advantage.

Celtic still sit top of the table with 27 points from their ten home matches. Dundee Utd are fourth, with 15 points from ten away games. The point moves Dundee Utd on their travels, while Celtic keep their place at the summit and carry a pattern of heavy possession and shots into their next home fixture.

Player of the matchZ. Sapsford1 goal8.2

L. Scales1 goal7.5

C. Durán1 goal7.5

N. Farrugia1 goal7.4