Celtic scored in either half to beat a stubborn Dundee United side and move 16 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Brendan Rodgers was keen to avoid a repeat of their goalless draw at Tannadice 17 days ago and stuck with the same starting XI that eased to victory against St Mirren three days ago, with Hyun-jun Yang drafted in for Nicolas Kuhn just before kick-off.
They dominated from the start and Daizen Maeda fired in the opener on the rebound to warm the fans up on a freezing night at Parkhead.
The visitors, who had late chances, were well organised and frustrated the Hoops but Hatate came off the bench to fire into the roof of the net and secure another home win.
Celtic are unbeaten at home this season while Dundee United remain third.
Hoops pushed all the way by United
All smiles as Celtic extend their lead at the top of the Premiership
Rodgers had called for some fans to be more patient after detecting groans at backward passes during his side’s 3-0 win over St Mirren.
He had also accused supporters in the standing section of being disrespectful to left-back Greg Taylor by singing the name of transfer target Kieran Tierney.
The fans responded by reprising songs for a full team of other former players and manager Martin O’Neill.
Songs about Artur Boruc, Mikael Lustig, Billy McNeil, Charlie Mulgrew, Tommy Burns, Victor Wanyama, Jimmy Johnstone, Scott Sinclair, Jota, Odsonne Edouard and Henrik Larsson all received an airing.
Brendan Rodgers had urged Celtic fans not to disrespect Greg Taylor
The fans rounded off their back catalogue with a stoppage-time burst of their song about Tierney, who is believed to be close to agreeing a pre-contract deal to return to Parkhead.
Jim Goodwin got little attacking energy from his players in an utterly one-sided first half, but the visitors put in a major defensive shift in a 45 minutes which resembled an attack vs defence training session.
The United boss would have been frustrated with the nature of the opener after his side appeared to have cleared Alistair Johnston’s cross.
The ball fell for Luke McCowan just inside the box after Richard Odada fired a shin-height pass off Vicko Sevelj ,and the former Dundee midfielder’s shot broke for Maeda to slot home after being parried by Jack Walton.
Daizen Maeda opened the scoring for Celtic against Dundee United
Auston Trusty had earlier headed off the top of the bar following one of 10 first-half corners from Arne Engels. The Belgium midfielder was Celtic’s most threatening player, also firing some teasing balls across the face of goal and coming close himself on several occasions.
United ended the half without a shot, a corner or a cross – Celtic had 27 – with only one touch in the home penalty area and 16 per cent possession.
There was a swift improvement after the break although Kai Fotheringham and Glenn Middleton were well off target from their first sights of goal.
Reo Hatate came on to double Celtic’s lead
Celtic had chances to kill the game off earlier than they did. Maeda turned Taylor’s driven cross wide and United goalkeeper Jack Walton parried substitute Kyogo Furuhashi’s header from another Engels corner.
Kasper Schmeichel managed his first save in the 70th minute, turning Middleton’s powerful strike past his near post and soon caught Fotheringham’s header.
The game remained in the balance until Hatate swept the ball into the top corner after fellow sub Paulo Bernardo had dummied Maeda’s lay-off.
Rodgers delighted with win as he waits on Kuhn prognosis
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Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for the fans’ support in their 2-0 win over Dundee Utd.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers speaking to Sky Sports News:
“A good win for us. I thought we maybe dominated the game.
“In the first half, we had opportunities to score more goals and then going into the second half we didn’t quite get the second goal.So, you have to then go through a little spell where the direct balls and long throw-ins, you have to deal with.
“There was a little bit of pressure there but I thought the players dealt with that really well and came through that.
“Then we get the second goal and that eases any nerves that might be in the game. We thoroughly deserved it, worked very hard and got a reward for that.
“I thought the atmosphere was great, whatever the temperature was, it was very, very cold, but they turned out in their numbers, Celtic fans.
“They’re amazing and they give the team that support and encouragement when it was needed and that helps us get the result.”
On Nicolas Kuhn’s absence he added: “He just felt something in the warm-up so unfortunately he had to come out.
“He didn’t feel he was fit to play on so we’ll assess that tomorrow and see where it’s at.”
Goodwin: A really tough ask
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Dundee Utd manager Jim Goodwin says the club are
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin speaking to Sky Sports News:
“We knew tonight was always going to be difficult given the volume of games that we’ve had in recent weeks.
“Tonight is actually our sixth league game in the space of 17 days so a really tough ask for the players to come here fresh. In the best of times it’s difficult enough, but to come here two days after the Hearts game with very little recovery, it was always going to be difficult.
“The players gave everything, but just unfortunately we just didn’t do enough.
“We got opportunities to put the ball into the box with some deep free-kicks and some long throws and won a couple of corners as well but, unfortunately, nothing really fell too kindly to us in and around the box.”