Celtic 2-2 Dundee United: Martin O'Neill's side forced to come from behind again as defending costs them in draw
Report as Celtic draw 2-2 with Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership; Liam Scales' equaliser after the hour forced the hosts to fight back yet again in order to salvage a point; Celtic remain four points clear at top of table after Rangers draw with Hearts
Wednesday 28 October 2026 22:55, UK
Celtic lost the opportunity to go six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they drew 2-2 with Dundee United.
After an unconvincing performance against Hibs over the weekend, Martin O'Neill's side made a bright start to proceedings as Camilo Duran finished off a well-worked move to give the hosts an early lead.
However, shocking defending saw the visitors turn the game around in the space of three minutes. First, Zachary Sapsford got in front of Liam Scales to head home an equaliser, before Neil Farrugia prodded home after a shambolic attempt from the hosts to clear their lines from a free-kick.
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Fan favourite Jota was introduced at half-time to help the Hoops avoid a first home defeat to United since 1992, and he did exactly that. His beautiful inswinging cross found the head of Scales to level things up just after the hour mark.
Jack Walton's denial of Mika Baur's shot from point-blank range stopped Celtic from gaining a relatively undeserved three points, though the hosts can at least point to their spirit as a positive after being forced to come from behind for the second time in four days.
With Rangers scoring a late equaliser at Hearts, Celtic remain four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, meaning the disappointing result can be viewed as a point gained as opposed to two lost.
More to follow...
The key moments from Celtic Park
11: CLOSE! Forbes climbs well but heads wide from a free-kick.
19: GOAL! Duran opens the scoring after nice link-up with Hogh.
24: SAVE! Johnstone called into action to deny Randall.
25: WIDE! Back come Celtic as Nygren bends an effort off target.
28: GOAL! Celtic punished as Sapsford levels.
31: GOAL! Turnaround complete! Farrugia scuffs home a second.
61: SAVE! Fingertip stop from Walton to deny Hassan.
65: GOAL! Scales heads home equaliser.
71: SAVE! Walton at it again to deny Baur from point-blank range.
O'Neill: Conceding goals not a concern yet
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill speaking with Sky Sports:
"We could have done better. But every manager up and down the country will say they can do better for conceding a goal.
"Am I concerned? Not at the minute, no.
"Our duty here at Celtic Park is to go forward all the time. And, of course, we don't want to leave gaps, set-pieces and corner kicks and free-kicks. We can do better than that there, but no-one has got a 100 per cent record in that.
"The frustration is for us not to have won the game. That's the frustration. Everything else outside that, we're in no control of."
'Tinge of disappointment' as United fail to hold on
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin speaking with Sky Sports:
"I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a tinge of disappointment that we were leading for so long in the game and that we weren't able to hold on.
"But that's not me standing here and saying that Celtic didn't deserve something from the game. Their substitutes at half-time clearly gave them a bit of a spark and they were relentless going into the dying moments.
"We've got to be satisfied with the point in the end, given what we put into it.
"Some of the passages of play and some of the football we played was really pleasing on the eye. The second half, as I said, there was fatigue setting in from how much we put into the game on Saturday.
"But I have to be pleased that we were able to maintain this unbeaten run that we've been on. The month of October has been good to us in terms of our points return and we can dust ourselves down and get ready for the next one."
