McGowan banned for two games

The Australian defender was dismissed by referee Calum Murray two minutes from time after catching Hoops' substitute Liam Henderson with a late tackle.

United challenged the former Hearts full-back's sending-off but the Scottish Football Association's disciplinary tribunal has thrown their appeal out.

McGowan will now sit out United's Tannadice meeting with Ross County on April 4, as well as the Arabs' first Scottish Cup tie next season.

The decision to ban McGowan will please Celtic manager Ronny Deila, who described the 25-year-old's challenge on Henderson as "stupid" - claiming it could have injured his midfielder "for life."

The Cup replay was the third of four fiery meetings between the clubs to take place over a 13-day period.

The first match ended in a 1-1 Scottish Cup draw in Dundee as Hoops' Virgil van Dijk was sent off after a clash with United defender Calum Butcher, although Paul Paton also walked when the match officials confused him with his Arabs team-mate. Tannadice defender Paul Dixon was also dismissed after a handball offence inside his own box.

Their next meeting was at Hampden as Celtic claimed the Scottish League Cup with a 2-0 win after United skipper Sean Dillon collected another red card for scything down Emilio Izaguirre.

But the controversy continued in the Cup replay when Anthony Stokes was dismissed for lashing out at Paton after the two clashed off the ball. McGowan was next to go for his lunge on Henderson as frustrations boiled over while Celtic completed a 4-0 triumph.

Thankfully there was no more trouble in Saturday's Scottish Premiership fixture, which the Parkhead hosts again won easily with a 3-0 success.