Celtic held to draw against Dundee United at Paradise

Scottish PremiershipWednesday, October 28, 2026Celtic Park

DUNDEE UNITED…2 (Sapsford 28, Farrugia 31)

It was a frustrating night for Celtic as the Bhoys were held to a 2-2 against Dundee United on Wednesday evening.

Martin O'Neill's side made a positive start to proceedings at Paradise, opening the scoring through Camilo Durán on 18 minutes.

However, the away side responded towards the end of the half, turning things round with two goals through Zac Sapsford and Neil Farrugia.

After finding themselves down at the break, Celtic produced a response, levelling up the scoring via Liam Scales just after the hour mark, but it ultimately wasn't enough to seal all three points.

As Martin O'Neill's side made their return to league action at Celtic Park, the manager named an unchanged side from the 2-1 win over Hibernian at the weekend.

And the Hoops were on the front foot early on, with Kasper Høgh having an opportunity in the opening stages. The Danish forward did well to attack Kieran Tierney's delivery into the box after wrestling with his marker but couldn't quite hit the target with his effort.

Celtic continued to attack as Liam Scales went close to opening the scoring with a header from a corner, but it went just passed the post, with the defender unfortunate not to find the bottom corner.

The Hoops finally got their reward for their positive start on 18 minutes as Camilo Durán opened the scoring, grabbing a goal for the fourth successive league fixture.

A ball into the box was headed back across goal by Benjamin Nygren, who looked to pick out a team-mate with his header.

He found the feet of Kasper Høgh, who laid it off for Durán to tuck home into the back of the net to give the Celts a well-deserved early advantage.

Celtic quickly looked to find a second, and came close through Nygren, who was unlucky not to find the target after another nice piece of set-up play by Høgh.

As the first-half wore on, the game took a turn as Dundee United fired home two quick-fire goals to turn things around in the opening 45 minutes.

The visitors' first goal came from a well-taken header by Zac Sapsford, who made the run across his marker, flicking an effort into the far bottom corner of the net.

And it took the away side just three minutes to find the net again, this time via Neil Farrugia, who fired United in front.

A corner into the box appeared to cause chaos in the box, which allowed the 27-year-old to divert the ball into the back of the net amidst a whole host of bodies inside the Celtic area.

With the Hoops finding themselves behind at the break, the manager made two changes, with Jota and Haissem Hassan replacing Callum Osmand and Kasper Høgh.

The two wide-men looked to cause danger for the Dundee United defence, consistently picking up the ball, and driving at either full-back.

Hassan in particular was unfortunate not to find his first goal in Celtic colours, with the winger stinging the gloves of the United shot-stopper, forcing a corner.

The Celts had plenty of set-plays to try and find their way back into the match in the second half, and that is where their leveller would come from.

After taking a short corner, the ball was worked to Jota, who floated a lovely looping cross into the box. That allowed time for Liam Scales to make a late run and attack the ball, his header finding the corner with his effort to make it 2-2.

As the Bhoys pushed for an all-important winner, they had to remain switched on as United themselves tried to find a third goal.

On a few occasions, the away side looked to hit on the attack at pace, with Sam Johnstone forced into a couple of smart stops.

Celtic piled on the pressure in the closing stages, as O'Neill also introduced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Landon Emenalo and Shim Mheuka to the game.

A number of Celtic players tried their luck from distance on the edge of the box, with Oxlade-Chamberlain firing wide of the target.

The away side were also doing well to get bodies in front of the ball and blocked any effort on Jack Walton's goal.

Despite all the late pressure, it ultimately wasn't enough for the Hoops, who were forced to take away a share of the spoils at Celtic Park.

Celtic Vs. Dundee United - Wed, Oct 28th 2026, 19:45 Final score: 2 - 2