ONE down, two to go ...

Ronny's on a roll, and the momentum is building.

The League Cup - Deila's first trophy as manager of Celtic - is safely in the bag, courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Dundee United in a final which threw up only a fraction of the headlines generated by the meeting between the clubs the previous weekend.

Sure, the red card was again flashed - shown to United skipper Sean Dillon this time - and another Celtic penalty missed.

But, more importantly, this time, there was also a clear winner, and Deila is confident this success can be the catalyst for many more magic moments this season.

The Triple, as he quaintly calls it, is a third of the way theirs. But, with his kids and parents watching from the stands alongside a highly-expectant Hoops support, was it a case of relief or rejoice for the manager?

"Both," he said, after the merest hesitation. "It's always great to win a trophy. But here, to lose is always a failure. That is something you have to live with. Winning cups is something we should always be doing.

"We are the biggest club in the league, and we should always be fighting for trophies. So I'm proud of the boys. They performed very well and we deserved to win the cup."

It was a landmark moment for the man most had never heard of before he was invited to become Neil Lennon's successor.

He lapped it up, joining his players in their post-match celebrations like a youngster who had received confirmation he had passed his first major exam.

What many considered to be the biggest decision Deila had to make was, in truth, no decision at all. Entrusting Scott Brown to lead out his side - even after his midweek socialising - was the only sensible conclusion to the issue.

Sensible if you wanted to have the best possible chance of lifting the trophy, that is. Quite what Brown said in the the pre-match huddle will, as ever, remain a secret.

But if he promised to buy the first round for his team-mates if they won, it wouldn't be a surprise. The United fans jeered every time he touched the ball. Brown, however, let it wash over him. After all, it's not the first time the 29-year-old and boos have been mentioned in the same sentence.

Without the suspended Nadir Ciftci, United were denied a real physical presence. However, in his place, Jackie McNamara put Mario Bilate, who, until he ran out of puff after an hour, used his pace and control to give the Hoops backline a difficult afternoon.

Their game plan was to try and keep Celtic under pressure whenever the Bhoys wanted to build from the back. For much of the game, it was certainly not the stroll to the trophy the bookies' odds had predicted, and United remain aggrieved they were denied a penalty when Brown knocked Ryan Dow to the ground with the score still 1-0.

They would also have been disappointed, however, that when Celtic did make the breakthrough, it not only came from a United free-kick at the other end of the pitch, but while the underdogs were playing with 10 men. Dillon went off for treatment to a shin injury, sustained in a challenge with Virgil van Dijk on 24 minutes.

He was still in the dressing room when Paul Dixon's free-kick was collected easily by Craig Gordon, whose quick throw sent the Hoops scampering into the opposition's half.

Stokes dinked a cross to Kris Commons, whose initial shot was deflected by Jaroslaw Fojut, before Radoslaw Cierzniak pushed the ball on to a post. Commons was quickest to react and rammed a right-foot volley back across the keeper and into the net.

Unbeknown to anyone, playing for 10 men for the seven minutes it took to patch up their captain was a portent of what was to come for United as Dillon completed a miserable day by returning to the play - only to be sent off permanently 10 minutes into the second half for a nasty, high tackle on Emilio Izaguirre.

With him went any chance United had of a comeback. However, it took Celtic until 11 minutes from time to put the final nail in their coffin. By then, James Forrest and John Guidetti had replaced Leigh Griffiths and Commons in an attempt to inject fresh impetus into the Hoops attack.

Urged on by his manager, and the Celtic support, Forrest took on full-back Paul Dixon for pace, skipped past him and sent the ball in for Guidetti. Prevarication and a decent last-gasp challenge by Callum Morris appeared to have made this another opportunity spurned. But Man-of-the Match Johansen recycled the ball, and, when it came back to Forrest, he swept it into the net.

Had the winger only been so efficient when he won the penalty six minutes later, drawing a clumsy challenge from Dixon in the box, the margin of victory would have been even more emphatic.

Interestingly, there was something of a scramble to be given the honour, and one or two of Forrest's team-mates - principally Guidetti - looked less than pleased they were denied the opportunity.

They were even less enamoured when Forrest put his penalty much too close to Cierzniak, who, for the second weekend in a row, saved a spot-kick from a Celt. In the end, it mattered not a jot.

The cup was Celtic's, and Rod Stewart took particular pleasure in presenting it to Brown, who led the lap of honour with gusto, even indulging in a spot of belly rubbing in reference to his penchant for fast-food. Provided he continues to help serve up trophies, it's a habit even Deila might find it possible to forgive.

We can't be sure what was on the menu when the squad headed back to Celtic Park to celebrate this victory, but festivities had to be short and sweet because there is much more business to be attended to, starting on Wednesday, when United are once again the opponents in the Scottish Cup replay.

Deila said: "Part one is completed. Now the aim is to move on to part two. We had to enjoy the evening, then get ready for training today."