Dundee United held 2-2 at Celtic Park as midfield trio draw widespread praise
Dundee United stretched their unbeaten run to six games with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park in a Scottish Premiership match on 29 October 2026, a result that prevented Celtic from extending their lead at the top of the table.
United have slipped to fifth in the league after city rivals Dundee's 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock, and manager Jim Goodwin said he was disappointed his side had failed to win at Celtic Park "for the first time in 52 games stretching back to 1992." BBC pundits and both managers praised United's performance, particularly the midfield, which controlled the first half before Celtic introduced wingers Jota and Haissem Hassan at half-time.
On BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound, chief sports writer Tom English asked "whether Dundee United have the best midfield three in Scotland right now." Former United wing-back Allan Preston highlighted the contribution of striker Zac Sapsford and the central trio: "[Zac] Sapsford on the goal trail again and the guys in the middle of the park are great," he said. "Iqbal in that first half especially was pulling the strings and Celtic couldn't get near him."
Preston continued with a sequence of observations on Zidane Iqbal's influence: "Iqbal is like a watch battery. He keeps everything ticking. He sits off and just passes it from side to side. Very rarely gives the ball way. I was actually surprised when they took him off." Goodwin described his side's "composure" after the match.
Former United midfielder Scott Allan identified Iraq international Iqbal, Dylan Tait and on-loan Rangers man Lyall Cameron as the core of United's midfield, saying Iqbal is "at the heart of that." Allan added on Sportscene: "They have three footballers in there all on the same wavelength. When you're at Celtic Park, you have to have guys who can stay on the ball and what I like about them all is they are not in a hurry to move the ball."
Allan elaborated on United's first-half approach: "They are happy just to wait for the pressure to come and move it from one side to the other. They were really brave with great quality in that first half. They were just so fluid in the middle of the park. They are as good as anything in the league at this moment in time and it just comes down to that word - composure. Willing to stay on the ball, attract pressure, give each other the ball under pressure and that allows you, when teams come out, to spin it in behind because they have a bit of pace there." Dylan Tait passed more balls into the final third than any United player.
The second half shifted after Celtic's substitutions; the match turned in Celtic's favour following the introductions of Jota and Hassan, and Liam Scales scored an equaliser. Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner said "the tempo was up, the energy was up, they still couldn't create too much" and added "Dundee United deserved to get a point," also noting: "They are organised, they've got good players in every part of the team. Jim's got something going with that Dundee United team."
Goodwin reflected on United's season-long changes, referencing his disappointment at missing out on the top six last season by one place and crediting Jens Berthel Askou's success with Motherwell as a lightbulb moment that led to a shift in style. He described the performance as "a decent performance" and said "the month of October has been a good points return for us." Goodwin added: "Of course there is an air of disappointment in the dressing room that we weren't able to hang on and take all three points. It would have been a historic victory had we done that, but credit to the opposition, their changes at half-time brought a real spark to their team. I can't have too many complaints about the end result. It is still early days, but it is something to build on after these 11 games being in a decent position in the league table and a relatively positive points return. To respond to the early goal shows great character and we had to dig deep in the last 20 minutes - Celtic are relentless."
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, who had Goodwin as a youth during his first spell as Celtic manager, waxed lyrical about "gentleman" Jim pre-match and afterwards said: "He is a very fine manager, there is no question of that. They are on a really good run at this minute and they come here with plenty of confidence as well. I think that they showed that in periods today and he's done a remarkable job." The draw left Celtic unable to increase their lead at the top and left Dundee United fifth in the table after Dundee's 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
