NINE-IN-A-ROW and the Magnificent Seven have always held special places in the hearts of Celtic fans.

They would have made the perfect Christmas present for a support which has not had too much to cheer this season.

But the 2-1 defeat to Dundee United means nine consecutive league wins to push Ronny Deila's side seven clear in the title race was not within the gift of Scott Brown and Co.

Instead, the Hoops and their fans will have to suffer a little cold turkey after being denied their regular dose of three points, and are left to reflect on their first domestic defeat since they crashed to Hamilton at home in October 5.

It doesn't mean Christmas is cancelled for the Celtic family.

But the manner of this defeat will take a little of the fizz out of their festive season.

What had been a hit-and-miss start to the campaign appeared to have been transformed into the kind of consistency the manager - and fans - demand.

Like his players, Deila has had to reflect and re-align, the idealist errors made in the first few months of his tenure now replaced by the pragmatism always required of a Celtic manager.

Now it's win first, style second, entertainment third, though Deila would probably argue that all three elements enjoy equal status in his game book.

Certainly, when this 'holy trinity' comes together, the result is almost always going to be positive and pleasing.

When they don't, results like yesterday's are always likely to jump up and bite the unwary.

As important in the morphing from a side who could not be relied upon to deliver two weeks in a row to the one no-one can stop is the consistency of selection.

Ironically, the team that ran out to face United was the same line up as won against St Mirren the previous week.

And for the first time since July, Celtic had not had their preparation short-circuited by a midweek game.

All the more reason, therefore, to have considered them bankers for another win.

But then there will be very few bookies struggling to put a fat bird and a nice bottle of something on the table on Thursday.

The layers will be able to dine out on this shock result, United's first win over the Hoops since 2012.

Meanwhile, referee Steven McLean and his assistants should not bother scanning their letterboxes awaiting a Christmas card with a Parkhead postmark on it.

The decision to flag Stefan Scepovic offside as he connected with an Emilio Izaguirre chest down to put the ball into the United net in with 10 minutes remaining was shown on TV to be a wrong call.

Given that Leigh Griffiths did score seven minutes later adds more resonance to that decision.

And Celtic will also reflect on the two penalty claims rejected in the first half when the strangely-subdued John Guidetti was sent tumbling first by John Rankin then Sean Dillon.

They also hit the same post twice in the closing stages, firstly from an Anthony Stokes cross which looped up off Dillon's head, then from a Griffiths shot which had beaten the keeper.

But the bottom line is the Hoops did not do enough to win their Christmas bonus, and presented United with the opportunities to win the game.

Jackie McNamara's men showed their hand as party poopers when they took the lead after just five minutes.

Stefan Johansen carelessly conceded possession in the middle of the park. With several players now in attacking mode and out of position, the ball was swiftly moved to Dillon as he moved down United's right wing.

A pass into Stuart Armstrong on the edge of Celtic's box saw the first chance for Celtic to clear, but the ball squeezed through to Nadir Cifti whose footwork left Efe Ambrose floundering and shot left Craig Gordon well beaten.

The roles were reversed for the second goal 20 minutes after the break.

This time Cifti was provider, bamboozling Izaguirre near the touchline then evading the attention of a cluster of Celtic players in the box before dinking the ball over to the unmarked Armstrong.

Gordon got his body in the way of his downward header from seven yards, but could not prevent the ball squirming over the line.

It really was a case of United making the most of their chances, while Celtic did not.

Allied to Celtic's poor defending, collectively and individually, the result was inevitable and gave a measure of revenge of the 6-1 hammering United took at Celtic Park earlier in the season.

In the blustery conditions and on the bobbly surface at Tannadice, Celtic this time struggled to find the cohesion required to turn their possession into goals.

Even Virgil van Dijk looked like he had lost the ability to find a team-mate with a pass.

When they did put it together, Johansen, Anthony Stokes and James Forrest all spurned opportunities without unduly taxing Radoslaw Cierzniak in the United goal.

The keeper was fortunate to see the ball bounce back off the bar after he had pushed a Johansen corner onto the head of Nir Bitton, with van Dijk seeing his follow-up header cleared off the line by Chris Erskine

The angst was palpable throughout, and was exacerbated by penalty claims rejected and dubious offside calls.

United were compact, disciplined and competitive, though Cifti took that too far when collecting a booking for a foul on Scott Brown after just 42 seconds.

Hardly the appropriate way to help the Hoops skipper celebrate his 300th appearance for the club.

It was not the result Brown wanted to mark such a milestone, and means United are now Celtic's nearest challengers, four points behind the league leaders.

With just one more game of a transitional and turbulent 2014 to go, it's still very much all still to play for