Celtic advance with minimum of fuss

The happiness that Jozef Venglos feels at managing a club the size of Celtic shone through after he realised that next month he can go and get himself kitted out for a new Scottish Cup final suit. It may also have had something to do with the way the game in his new country allows its leading teams take an odd day off.

The man himself had turned up promptly at Ibrox for the semi-final. The team were in plenty of time. And their fans, the bulk of a 43,000 crowd, were in their seats for the kick-off. All that was missing was Dundee United.

They did put in a brief appearance after half-time but by then goals from Regi Blinker and Marc Viduka had indisputedly given Celtic the tie. Their own performance was considerably less than sublime, but in the circumstances it hardly needed to be any better.

The mystery of the disappearing football team was only partly explained afterwards by a somewhat chastened Billy Dodds, a striker whose lack of size is frequently compensated by his willingness and aggression. He can also be a bubbly talker.

"I've got to choose my words carefully here," he said, giving the impression that he had been sent out of a glum - or possibly angry - dressingroom to give a briefing that left nobody any the wiser. "We're in this as a team so we have to stick together." He then gave the distinct impression that he regarded some of his colleagues as men who had not given a damn about reaching the final. Not in so many words, you understand, because that is the most serious charge that can be levelled against a team-mate. But it had certainly looked that way, even if neither Dodds nor his manager, Paul Sturrock, were in the business of naming names.

Celtic could afford to treat the match as another chore completed with a minimum of fuss. They will clearly regard Wednesday's league fixture against Hearts as a more important date because it is the trickiest of fixtures if they want to keep the pressure on Rangers.

But they had overcome United with their resources stretched. Defenders Johan Mjallby and Vidar Riseth will return from suspension to give their defence a more familiar look, and on a day when Henrik Larsson decided that he might also take a small sabbatical it was left to Regi Blinker to show he has more talent than most thought when he first arrived in Scotland.

Viduka stayed in the dressing room for the second half, suffering from some breathing problems. Strange that, for there had been nothing at all to raise anyone's blood pressure.

Craig Burley was entitled to take the field with more trepidation than usual. The former Chelsea midfielder is still haunted by his error in the 1996 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Villa Park when a misdirected backpass was cruelly punished by David Beckham.

Scotland international Burley was also part of the Chelsea team which won a semi-final with Wimbledon in 1997, but then was left out of the team for the final by Ruud Gullit.

Chelsea went on to defeat Middlesbrough while Burley went on to join Celtic in a £2.5million switch, yet still Cup semi-finals proved a stumbling block with defeat to Glasgow rivals Rangers last season.

Burley was, however, a happier figure on Saturday as Celtic eased to victory.

He said: "The backpass against United was one of the low points in my career, I think at the time Mark Hughes was going for a record number of Cup final appearances and I really mucked it up for him.

"That was disappointing so when it came to the next semi-final against Wimbledon I would say that was the most nervous I have ever been for a football game."

Burley had no such concerns against United despite a spirited opening from the Tannadice outfit as Celtic proved their quality with an assured display in which the much-maligned Blinker was the dominant figure.

Burley reckons the Dutchman has benefited from being given more freedom by head coach Jozef Venglos to move infield rather than be constrained to operating only on the left touchline.

He added: "I think Regi has played some good games for us recently. Scoring goals always gives a player a confidence, I know that myself, and he deserved his goal for his all-round performance."

CELTIC: Gould, Boyd, Mahe (Wieghorst 53), McNamara, Larsson, Burley, Lambert, Annoni, McKinlay, Blinker, Viduka (Donnelly 45). Subs Not Used: Kerr. Booked: Viduka. Goals: Blinker 30, Viduka 39.

DUNDEE UNITED: Dykstra, Malpas, Jonsson, Olofsson, Easton, Mathie (Thompson 69), Dodds, Miller, Skoldmark, Jason De Vos, Murray. Subs Not Used: Patterson, Duffy. Booked: Malpas, Jonsson, Dodds.

Referee: W Young (Clarkston).