Celtic arrived at Tannadice looking to hit top spot in the Scottish Premiership and extend their 100% record.
In the opposing dug out Jack Ross was looking for a performance to kick start their campaign after losing their last 4, conceding 15 goals in the process.
Before the game got into full flow, an early Dundee United attack saw Joe Hart sustain a head injury via the boot of Steven Fletcher. The former Scotland striker made what appeared to be an honest attempt for the ball, resulting in a 7 minute stoppage whilst the medical staff treated the Celtic goalkeeper.
The stoppage did nothing to upset the flow of the champions however as they were ahead on the 15 minute mark.
A Jota led breakaway found the unmarked Kyogo Furuhashi in the middle of the penalty area, where the Japanese international buried his strike past Carljohan Eriksson.
Reo Hatate could’ve made it 2-0 moments later, were it not for a triple block from the home defence. Firstly from Ryan Edwards, then Liam Smith before the goalkeeper palmed the ball away to release the mounting pressure on his side.
Dundee United offered the occasional glimmer of hope to their supporters, with Glenn Middleton seeing his shot fly just past the post after Scott McMann had robbed Josip Juranovic on 33 minutes.
The away side soon flexed their attacking muscles once more though, as Kyogo got his name on the scoresheet again 5 minutes before the break. The forward latched on to loose clearance from McMann and found the top corner with a curling first time effort from 25 yards out.
Two minutes into the 7 added on, after the injury to Hart, and Celtic further extended their lead. An inch perfect pass from Matt O’Riley found Liel Abada, who squared the ball to Kyogo to complete a first half hat-trick.
Celtic weren’t finished there though and they found time for a fourth before half time. Jota popped up at the back post to tap in a low ball from O’Riley, despite the Portuguese looking offside.
It looks like an impossible task for Dundee United to come back into this game, it may well be a case of avoiding embarrassment.
