KILMARNOCK 0 CELTIC 2
A SPECTACULAR solo run and composed finish from Nicolas Kuhn sealed a crucial three points to propel Celtic back to the Premiership pinnacle at Rugby Park this afternoon.
The champions had to roll up the sleeves to get the job down against a snarling Kilmarnock team that weren’t too bothered about the niceties of the beautiful game as they set about their business.
It wasn’t easy on the eye, but Brendan Rodgers’ men refused to buckle and lose their concentration against Derek McInnes’ warriors.
The breakthrough goal in first-half stoppage-time carried with it an element of good fortune as Callum McGregor claimed another long-range effort.
In truth, it looked like a cross from the skipper, but Adam Idah missed the ball completely as it dropped into the box and Robby McCrorie was distracted by the presence of the Republic of Ireland frontman.
Before the keeper could re-adjust his feet, the ball was sailing into the far right-hand corner of the net for a welcome opener for the visitors.
BREAKTHROUGH GOAL ON ITS WAY…Adam Idah fails to get a touch to Callum McGregor’s pass as Robby McCrorie is caught flat-footed.
PICK IT OUT…Idah races away in triumph as McCrorie is beaten and Joe Wright looks on in dismay.
Kasper Schmeichel was called upon to make a few excellent saves, including a wonderful swoop to his left to push away an angled 10-yard drive from Matty Kennedy in the 65th minute.
A loss of a goal at that stage would have offered oxygen to the home team who were well up for this confrontation.
However, the points were heading towards the east end of Glasgow in the 71st minute when Kuhn, hero of the Champions League triumph over RB Leipzig on Tuesday, sprinkled some magic dust on proceedings with an electrifying sprint and devastating finish.
Alistair Johnston got the move in motion with a superb ball down the right, launched from 10 yards inside his own half.
Kuhn simply sped onto the pass, left David Watson in his tracks, cut inside onto his favoured left foot and swept an unstoppable shot wide of the helpless keeper.
Disturbingly, the Hoops spent most of the opening half on the back-foot as Killie, as expected, scrapped for every ball, threw themselves into 50/50 challenges and were eageer to let their opponents know they were up for a fight.
The battle lines were drawn in eight SECONDS when Watson clattered into Greg Taylor for the game’s first foul.
Joe Wright picked up a deserved yellow card after firing an elbow into the face of Idah in the tenth minute and the game had to be held up for over four minutes as the striker received treatment to a facial wound with blood spurting from his nose.
VAR official Don Robertson looked again at the flashpoint and agreed with onfield colleague Nick Walsh that a booking was sufficient punishment. Another match official and technician on another day may have believed red was a more appropriate colour of card.
WELL DONE, SKIPPER…Callum McGregor is congratulated by Nicolas Kuhn and Auston Trusty after his bizarre opening goal at Rugby Park.
The hosts produced nothing to surprise anyone as they set about their task with a ferocious zeal.
Celtic were knocked out of their stride and they didn’t help themselves with some atrocious passing out of defence with Taylor and Liam Scales taking it in turns to gift possession to their rivals.
The champions got lucky in the 36th minute when Reo Hatate gave the ball away to trigger a swift counter-attack by McInnes’ side.
Jerome Vessel knocked a pass out to the unmarked Marley Watkins with Taylor caught out of position on the left. It looked as though the Killie forward must score in a one-v one-situation with Schmeichel.
He lifted the ball over the exposed keeper, but his effort carried across goal, hit the right-hand post and was booted for a corner-kick by a relieved Johnston.
Schmeichel had also been forced to make a sprawling save 20 minutes earlier when Corrie Ndaba eased away from McGregor and was allowed to line up a shot from 25 yards.
The left-back walloped in a vicious drive that had a fair bit of movement as it arrowed in on its target, but, thankfully, the netminder was equal to the task and was able to beat the ball to safety.
ON ITS WAY…Nicolas Kuhn watches as his angled drive whips past Robby McCrorie.
Outwith the goal, the only other time McCrorie had been brought into action was in the 26th minute after Kuhn and Arne Engels worked a quick corner-kick on the right to set up a shooting opportunity for McGregor.
The captain angled in an effort to the keeper’s right-hand post, but the Killie No.1 got across to push the ball wide for a corner-kick.
He had no such luck late in stoppage-time with the opener from the same opponent.
In the 63rd minute, Rodgers made his first changes as he sent on Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo for out-of-touch duo Idah and Engels.
Ten minutes later, Anthony Ralston and James Forrest replaced Johnston and Kuhn and five minutes from time Luke McCowan came on for Hatate.
HAIL THE HERO…Nicolas Kuhn acknowedges the fans as he takes the plaudits for his goal.
Kyogo almost netted a third a couple of minutes from the end with a wicked low shot that was cleared by McCrorie’s outstretched right foot.
And McCowan was just a few inches out with a clever lob that cleared the bar with the keeper rooted.
It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.
The crucial outcome is the victory and Celtic well and truly earned it thanks to a special goal from Kuhn – and some spectacular saves from Schmeichel.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston (sub: Ralston 73), Trusty, Scales, Taylor; Engels (sub: Bernardo 63), McGregot, Hatate (sub: McCowan 85); Kuhn (sub: Forrest 73), Idah (sub: Kyogo 63), Maeda.
