| Match Pictures | Matches: 2000 – 2001 | 2000-2001 Pictures |
Trivia
- Morten Wieghorst came out of intensive care in his fight to overcome Guillain Barre Syndrome.
- Ex-Celtic Paddy Kelly finally started a game for Livingston after his free transfer from Reading.
- Martin O’Neill brought the rested players back into the side with Larsson and Lambert returning, and Sutton recovered from his ankle injury. Moravcik was out, Riseth was out on loan to TSV 1860 Munich, and the young bucks of Crainey and Smith who had started the previous CIS game against Hearts dropped out. Newly arrived Douglas was preferred on the bench to Stewart Kerr.
- After the game most of the squad and Martin O’Neill turned up the 55th Annual Celtic Supporters’ Association Rally at the Royal Concert Hall where long-term physiotherapist Brian Scott (honoured for 21 years’ service to the club) was the guest of honour
Review
A battling win at the cost of losing Paul Lambert with an ankle injury. This was finally diagnosed as a stress fracture and it ould keep him out till into the next year. This game epitomised the ground out wins that would make the season a success. Chris Sutton picked up a yellow card in the first minute.
Teams
Kilmarnock:
Marshall, MacPherson, Innes, Dindeleux, Hay, Mitchell, Fowler (Canero 57), Durrant, Mahood, Cocard (Dargo 74), McLaren (Wright 81).
Subs Not Used: Meldrum, Hessey.
Celtic:
Gould, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby, McNamara, Lambert (Agathe 39), Thompson, Petrov (Healy 88), Petta, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Douglas, Stubbs, Johnson.
Goals: Thompson 60.
Booked: Cocard, Mitchell (Kilmarnock) Sutton, Petta (Celtic)
Attendance: 13,417
Referee: W Young (Scotland).
Articles
- Match Report
Confidence does the trick
The Scotsman 06/11/2000
Tom Lappin
Kilmarnock 0
Celtic 1 Thompson (60)
Referee: W Young. Attendance: 13,417
MANAGERS will tell you that titles are won with battling 1-0 away wins when their team edge a victory without playing at optimum capacity.
If that's the case, yesterday's result is a further dose of bad news for Celtic's putative Scottish Premier League rivals.
Celtic's performance was professional rather than passionate, feisty rather than fluent. Points aren't awarded for aesthetic content though, but for the scoreline.
An untidy goal from Alan Thompson in the second half settled that matter against a Kilmarnock side that seemed a pale parody of the outfit that had demolished Rangers at Ibrox the previous weekend.
"I'm delighted with the result," Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said. "This was a very big win for us. A point would have been a good result for us, but obviously it's great to get a win.
"The players had told me before the game that Kilmarnock always make it tough to play here, and they were on a bit of a roll. But so were we."
The key ingredient in Celtic's victory was their persistence after a frustrating first half when goalscoring chances were proving hard to come by.
"There is a resolve about the players," O'Neill said. "But that comes from the confidence that we have in the dressing-room at the moment."
O'Neill admitted to a certain edginess, induced by his players' inability to make their lead more comfortable in the second-half. Henrik Larsson was an unlikely culprit in this regard, squandering a couple of clear chances to secure a second.
"I'm not best pleased that we couldn't kill the game off," the manager said.
"Their goalkeeper was superb, he made a couple of breathtaking saves at the start of the second-half, when he had a bit of a blitz. But I know my team are always capable of scoring goals."
After the run-outs for some of the reserves in midweek, O'Neill restored Paul Lambert and Larsson to the side, while Chris Sutton returned in time for a league loosener before Thursday's UEFA Cup tie. The only notable absentee was Lubo Moravcik, given a respite in order to be fully fit to face Bordeaux.
Kilmarnock's team had only one change from the side that had beaten Rangers and Hibernian in the last two matches, but it was significant; Gary Holt's injury depriving Kilmarnock of his valuable support to their front players. Manager Bobby Williamson refused to use Holt's absence as an excuse afterwards, but did accept that it had affected the way his team had played.
The game started in aggressive fashion that fortunately did not get out of hand. Sutton's first contribution, a second-minute foul on Ian Durrant rewarded with a yellow card, probably only further endeared him to the Celtic support.
After that he set about menacing the Kilmarnock defence in a more constructive capacity. He came closest to scoring in the first half, heading a Stilian Petrov cross firmly down at the far post, where Gordon Marshall made a fine save.
Otherwise, Celtic started off looking busy but predictable in most of their attacking play. Without the guile of the Slovak Moravcik, Celtic's midfield sallies are led in a more direct fashion by Petrov and Thompson.
Thompson is perhaps the most obvious personification of the changes O'Neill has wrought at Celtic, where applied athleticism has replaced some of the less effective prettiness of last season.
Covering copious amounts of ground in midfield, Thompson deserved his goal if only for his application. He is an industrious and intelligent midfielder, and was involved in most of Celtic's early approach play, going close with a low left-foot shot after a clever lay-off from Sutton, and taking responsibility at most of the set-pieces.
That kind of industry needs to be augmented with a little more invention, though. Celtic's only other first-half chances of note came to Larsson, a free-kick that didn't cause Marshall too much trouble, and a flick-on from Sutton that bounced awkwardly for the Swede.
Kilmarnock, holding their own in some of the midfield tussles, struggled to put much of an attacking threat together. Christophe Cocard and Andy McLaren attempted to drag defenders wide, but it was apparent that McLaren was going to win nothing in the air against Johan Mjallby, and Kilmarnock needed to get more support to their attackers.
Lambert limped off just before half-time, replaced by Didier Agathe. The change, and the interval team talk no doubt, seemed to give Celtic a little more attacking urgency.
Marshall, already staking a claim as Kilmarnock's hero, made vital stops from Sutton and Thompson inside the first minute of the second half.
Kilmarnock responded with their first clear-cut chance. A smart pass from McLaren found Cocard with space on the right side of the penalty area. His cross-shot was directed dangerously across the six-yard box but couldn't get a touch from Ally Mitchell.
It sparked a brief flurry of excitement amongst the home fans, cruelly doused just after the hour mark when Celtic took the lead. Considering the diligence with which Kilmarnock had defended up until then, it was a surprisingly sloppy affair.
Kilmarnock's defenders watched mesmerised as Agathe's underhit cross from the right made stately progress across the penalty area. Larsson looked at the ball, Sutton cast a glance, but neither made much effort to reach it, and eventually it arrived at the feet of Thompson. Seeing as there was nobody else around he duly diverted it into the net.
Unnerved by the goal, Kilmarnock seemed determined to be complicit in their own undoing. A casual pass by Freddie Dindeleux in his own half presented Larsson with the sort of clear chance he usually thrives on. He drew Marshall in familiar fashion and slipped the ball wide of the goalkeeper – and well wide of the post. It was an uncharacteristic touch of clemency that the Swede repeated a few minutes later when he attempted to sidestep Marshall twice rather than accept the chance with his usual ruthlessness.
That left Celtic having to face a slightly nervous end to the match. Kilmarnock hardly managed to create much in the way of threat, Dindeleux's blocked shot being the nearest they came to a scoring opportunity.
"We have to give credit to Celtic," Williamson acknowledged afterwards.
"They didn't allow us to create anything. My players gave everything they had but we didn't really get the breaks."
Williamson offered a faint grievance about the Celtic goal, suggesting that Larsson might have committed a foul before the ball reached Thompson, but his heart wasn't really in it.
"No complaints really," he added. "Celtic deserved it. They are grinding out results. that's the real difference at the moment."
- Manager Interview
Martin O’Neill post match:
"I'm delighted with the result,
"This was a very big win for us. A point would have been a good result for us, but obviously it's great to get a win.
"The players had told me before the game that Kilmarnock always make it tough to play here, and they were on a bit of a roll. But so were we."
"There is a resolve about the players, but that comes from the confidence that we have in the dressing-room at the moment."
"I'm not best pleased that we couldn't kill the game off."
"Their goalkeeper was superb, he made a couple of breathtaking saves at the start of the second-half, when he had a bit of a blitz. But I know my team are always capable of scoring goals."
Pictures
Stats
| Kilmarnock | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 2 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 12 | 9 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 9 |
| Corners | 5 | 6 |
| Offside | 2 | 5 |