Celtic 2 Dundee United 1: Bank statement

Southampton target Gary Hooper, for whom they have already turned down a reported £4 million, issued a timely reminder of his worth with his 16th goal of the season to set the Parkhead club on course for their 11th consecutive SPL win, leading manager Neil Lennon to quote the £35m which Newcastle paid for Andy Carroll 12 months ago as an acceptable guide price for a player who actually outscored Carroll in the Championship back in 2009-10.

The point was light-hearted, but the message was serious enough: every player at the club has his own valuation, but Lennon regards winning the SPL title back for the first time in four years as truly priceless.

"We look at the Carroll fee, and some of the prices that are being bandied about in the Premiership, we look at the likes of Hooper, Kayal, Ki, Izaguirre and Forrest, and they are not going to go cheaply that is for sure," the Celtic manager said. "They will have to pay proper money. The problem is that if we get a knockout price and think it over, do we have time to replace a Gary Hooper? Trust me they are hard to find."

This match also provided further reason for Celtic fans to be delighted that Kenya aren't currently a force in African football. Victor Wanyama, the 20-year-old who was recently named SPL young player of the month, could have been at the Africa Cup of Nations right now, but instead scored a spectacular third goal in five weeks and was deservedly named the game's most valuable player.

Lennon had a mild pop at the SPL fixture schedulers before and after the match, claiming there was an "imbalance" in the amount of times Celtic have had to play catch-up on Rangers this season, but his players are in the kind of form to defuse any controversy. He made five changes from the team against Peterhead – James Forrest missed out with a flu bug – but within 20 minutes they were well on the way to their 11th league win in a row. For the record, that equals the best ever under Gordon Strachan, although it is still some way short of the 25 achieved under Martin O'Neill in 2003-04.

Dundee United can usually be relied upon to give Celtic a game here, even if their last win at this ground came in 1992, and at times it seemed like we might be in for a repeat. Gary Mackay-Steven got a second chance to deliver a ball from out wide, and after a Scott Robertson mis-kick, Garry Kenneth lashed in a left-foot shot which was pawed away by Fraser Forster.

But before they knew it, United were two down. There was a mixture of relief and enjoyment among the home support when Hooper ran on to an instinctive early pass from partner-in-crime Anthony Stokes to place a clinical finish high past Dusan Pernis.

Soon, even better was to come. Emilio Izaguirre, in his first league start since breaking his leg at Aberdeen earlier in the season, demanded a quick corner from Georgios Samaras, before aiming over a devilish outswinging cross. Wanyama got a run on the ball, out-leaping Kenneth to power a towering header into Pernis's top corner. It was reminiscent of Bobo Balde in his pomp.

Despite the two-goal deficit, once again the Tannadice side played their better football in Glasgow whilst in arrears. None of the credit for this can go to Peter Houston, who was serving the first game of his touchline ban, and restricted to the stand.

"What was frustrating for me was the ban doesn't let you into the dressing room," the United manager said. "But I have to compliment the backroom staff because the players came out again and played well."

After a few close things at one end, before long United had a route back into this match. John Rankin strode forward some 25 yards out and fired in a shot which wasn't a squiggler but swerved viciously and low into Forster's bottom corner off the inside of the post. Next, Adam Matthews slipped and Jon Daly was forcing a crucial save from Forster from a cross. Samaras could have made the game safe for Celtic, but the Parkhead club had done enough to bank another hard-earned three points.

Bank statement