Dundee Utd 1
Celtic 0
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Both sides came into the clash in great form and it was no surprise that the sold out notices had been posted outside Tannadice at the start of the week. With Celtic chasing the title and the Tangerines in with a great chance of qualifying for Europe a mouth watering encounter proved to live up to the billing.
United imposed themselves on the game from the start and in some ways it was unfortunate that their two best openings fell to defenders during this spell. Jim McInally and Mark Perry were the two who failed to take advantage of the excellent opportunities that came their way. A mark of the hosts early dominance was that it took until the half hour mark before Celtic posted an effort on goal with Pierre Van Hooijdonk firing into the side netting after popping up on the right.
After the break the terrors continued to make the better chances and Stewart Kerr saved at the feet of Andy McLaren as he looked to latch onto a through ball. Shortly afterwards came the best chance of the game as Lars Zetterlund floated a ball over the top and Kjell Olofsson powered his way towards goal before missing Kerr's right post by the finest of margins. In reply the Glasgow side went on to exert some pressure for the first time in the match. They created and contrived to miss several good chances, most notably when Jorge Cadete headed against the bar, but United held firm and two minutes from time there was bedlam inside the ground as they scored what turned out to be the winner. Erik Pedersen, whose marking of Paolo Di Canio in the game was still being revered many years after, starting the move with a high clearance deep into the Celtic half. Olofsson beat Alan Stubbs to the header allowing Gary McSwegan, who had only been on the field 6 minutes, to poke the ball through the legs of the defender before deftly chipping the ball high over Kerr and, after a bounce, high up into the far left corner of the net sparking wild scenes in the East Stand. Before the final whistle Andy McLaren really ought to have made it two when he screwed an intelligent cut back by Olofsson wide of the far post when it seemed easier to score.
In the end this mattered little as the Tangerines gained a win which would go on to live long in the memory.