Balde back as Celtic keep ahead of the posse

Dundee Utd 0 Celtic 2:Celtic's fans at Tannadice witnessed two things that recently they might have thought improbable - the return of Bobo Balde in defence and Celtic's first clean sheet away from home in 35 matches. The two were directly linked to Balde giving a near-flawless showing in the centre of defence in his first outing for a year as goals from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Stephen McManus maintained Celtic's two-point advantage at the top of the table.

Balde's reported wage of €38,000 a week and the fact that the manager, Gordon Strachan, clearly does not regard him as a viable solution to his team's often-glaring defensive frailties, ensured the club were keen for the 32-year-old to seek new pastures during the close season.

Yesterday's reappearance - perhaps a fleeting one as Balde is still being pursued by Sunderland, along with Birmingham City, and is part of Guinea's squad for the upcoming African Cup of Nations - was the result of Steven Pressley being dropped after a string of unconvincing displays.

"Sometimes as a manager you have to make these kinds of decisions and I explained that to Steven," said Strachan. "I did something similar at Coventry City, leaving out Steve Ogrizovic, who was a big favourite, and bringing in Magnus Hedman.

"Magnus was excellent and helped to keep us in the league that season."

Balde's every move, right from the moment he took the field for his warm-up, was met with vociferous approval from the travelling support, who have become disenchanted with the Celtic defence. Bad mistakes by Balde, most notably a costly red card in the 2003 Uefa Cup final, during six years in Glasgow have apparently been forgotten.

But, in truth, there were precious few other reasons for celebration during an opening half which flirted between scrappy and downright poor.

Only Barry Robson, Dundee United's captain, made any meaningful attempts to lift the gloom with a series of probing runs down his right flank.

Robson also crashed a 35-yard drive against the Celtic bar six minutes before the interval. The visitors' response was immediate, though, as United's goalkeeper, Grzegorz Szamotulski, produced a magnificent save to deny Vennegoor of Hesselink's header.

Perhaps aware that, by this time, Rangers had defeated Motherwell at Ibrox, Celtic began the second period brightly with Scott McDonald a miskick away from an opening goal, whereas Aiden McGeady fired narrowly wide from 25 yards.

It was left to Vennegoor of Hesselink, then, to head powerfully past Szamotulski after the United defence proved uncharacteristically static at a Paul Hartley corner.

Another Hartley set-piece, six minutes later, found the United backline wanting again as McManus bundled home at the back post.

There remained time for Balde's sole aberration, a handball inside his penalty area that went unpunished, and Scott Brown hit the frame of the goal when rounding off a sublime Celtic move that had included in excess of 20 passes.

"I was a little bit disappointed when I saw Balde's name on the team-sheet," said Craig Levein, Dundee United's manager.

Whether that name remains there, with the second Old Firm match of the season only six days away, is a matter of great intrigue.

DUNDEE UTD: Szamotulski, Dillon, Wilkie, Dods, Flood, David Robertson (Conway 58), Buaben, Gomis, Robson, Hunt, Jordan Robertson. Subs not used: McLean, Kerr, Cameron, Kenneth, Duff, Don. Booked: Gomis.

CELTIC: Mark Brown, Caldwell, Balde, McManus, Naylor, McGeady, Scott Brown, Hartley, Jarosik (Donati 72), McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Subs not used: McGovern, Riordan, Sno, Killen, O'Dea, Caddis.

Referee: E Smith (Scotland).