Celtic's extraordinary hex on Dundee United brought them a fourth successive victory over the Tannadice club this season, although it took Craig Burley's deflected shot three minutes from time to do the trick.

Kjell Olofsson had given United a first-half lead they looked likely to hold until Simon Donnelly's 77thminute equaliser and Burley's late intervention. United's goal arrived at a time when it seemed that Celtic, after a bedraggled first 20 minutes, would impose their authority.

But a general dishevelment in the first quarter is always bad news for a Celtic team whose capacity for inflicting damage is seriously reduced when they are denied the chance to operate fluently.

Sieb Dykstra was forced to tip away Henrik Larsson's 30-yard lob and then watched with concern when the Swede's angled drive was deflected across his goal and wide of the far post a little later.

United's goal came from their first coherent move. Erik Pedersen turned inside Enrico Annoni on the left and supplied Lars Zetterlund. The midfielder played the ball, first time, into the path of Olofsson who allowed it to bounce knee-high before side-footing it, with his right, past Jonathan Gould from six yards.

United's Mark Perry then stopped Harald Brattbakk's low drive on the line and Dykstra somehow managed to get an arresting touch on Annoni's close-range shot after the Italian was set up by Paul Lambert's low centre.

Celtic's urgent need of an equaliser brought Donnelly off the bench to take the place of Jackie McNamara at the start of the second half and the 23-year-old made an important contribution in defence, heading Siggi Jonsson's volley over his own crossbar before producing the equaliser.

Darren Jackson, on for Brattbakk, held the ball on the left before rolling it inside to Paul Lambert whose low drive was pushed out by Dykstra. Donnelly was there first, though, squeezing his right-foot shot over the line from a tight angle.

Dundee Utd: Dykstra, Skoldmark, Bowman, Pressley, Perry, Pedersen, Olofsson (Winters 58), Zetterlund, McSwegan, Jonsson, McLaren. Subs Not Used: Dolan, McKinnon. Booked: Zetterlund, McSwegan. Goals: Olofsson 24.

Celtic: Gould, Annoni, Mahe, McNamara (Donnelly 46), Rieper, Hannah, Larsson, Burley, Brattbakk (Jackson 60), Lambert, Wieghorst. Subs Not Used: O'Donnell. Booked: McNamara, Hannah, Lambert. Goals: Donnelly 78, Burley 87.

Referee: J Rowbotham (Kirkcaldy).