2018-02-03: Kilmarnock 1-0 Celtic, SP

The former West Bromwich Albion and Reading boss saw his stock continue to rise with this fully merited victory over Celtic on a day which saw the Scottish champions’ injury woes escalate as defenders Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer limped off in the first half.

Youssouf Mulumbu capped an exceptional individual display with the only goal of the game to hand Kilmarnock their first victory over Celtic at Rugby Park for eight years.

Fixtures against the Old Firm are proving to be meat and drink for Clarke whose transformational effect on Killie now sees them unbeaten in four outings against Celtic and Rangers under his command. Supporters of the Ayrshire club can only hope the 54-year-old continues to operate under the SFA’s radar.
Clarke’s personal influence in the successful recruitment of Mulumbu back in November has been a key factor in Kilmarnock’s progress and it has emerged that they almost lost the 31-year-old Congolese midfielder to Bordeaux in the closing days of the January transfer window.
“It was a crazy week for me,” said Mulumbu. “On Monday, I had a great offer from a big club in France. I would have been sad to leave Kilmarnock so soon but it was a great opportunity. But on Wednesday, the board and Steve Clarke cancelled it because it was taking too long. I am happy to stay now and I want to help Kilmarnock finish in the top half of the table.”
Killie became only the second Scottish side to inflict a defeat on Celtic during the Brendan Rodgers era as he was left waiting anxiously to learn the full extent of the respective groin and ankle injuries suffered by Boyata and Ajer, with their Europa League tie against Zenit St Petersburg this month looming large.

“We will just have to assess them,” said Rodgers. “Of course when you lose two of your defenders so early, it is disruptive, but I wouldn’t use that as any excuse today.”
It was an eventful afternoon from Jack Hendry’s perspective as he made his debut for Celtic following his deadline day move from Dundee. The 22-year-old began the match as part of a back three alongside Boyata and Ajer but then found himself in the company of Nir Bitton and Kieran Tierney at the base of Rodgers’ 3-2-4-1 formation as the defensive injuries forced the hasty reshuffles.
While Celtic’s system afforded them their customary dominance of possession, it was not matched by any significant degree of penetration as an attacking force in a first half which saw Kilmarnock create the more dangerous openings. On-loan Chelsea playmaker Charly Musonda made little impact in his first start for Celtic.
Jordan Jones, whose pace and directness posed a threat to Celtic whenever the hosts were able to get on to the front foot, troubled Dorus de Vries with a shot the keeper spilled and from the resulting melee, Greg Taylor might have done better than pull a shot wide.

De Vries did manage to hold a driven effort from Kris Boyd as Kilmarnock showed increasing levels of enterprise and ambition as the interval approached.
Apart from a couple of efforts from distance by Olivier Ntcham, the second of which fizzed narrowly over, Celtic caused precious little concern to Killie keeper Jamie MacDonald in a largely forgettable opening 45 minutes.
The visitors increased the tempo of their play after the break but while they managed to hem Killie in for a spell, their struggle to create anything resembling a clear-cut sight of goal continued.
When Mulumbu’s goal arrived with 20 minutes left on the clock, Clarke’s side had firmly re-imposed themselves on the contest and were not flattered by taking the lead. Celtic’s defence was stretched by Mulumbu’s crossfield pass to Jones on the left. The winger held the ball up smartly and then picked out
the supporting run of Mulumbu who was left unmarked to sweep a close-range shot beyond de Vries.

Kilmarnock passed up a series of chances to make life more comfortable for themselves in the closing stages, Jones wastefully skying a shot over, while Mulumbu saw another close-range effort saved by De Vries.
The closest Celtic came to grabbing an equaliser was a sweetly struck free-kick from Ntcham in the 90th minute which forced MacDonald into his first genuine save as he threw himself to his right to divert the ball wide.
“We could’ve played here until midnight and not scored,” observed Rodgers. “We were very disappointing. There have been very few occasions in my time here when I’ve said that but we weren’t so good in all aspects today.”

The scotsman
Andy Harrow

Ratings out of ten for every player in Kilmarnock’s 1-0 win over Celtic

READ MORE – Kilmarnock 1 – 0 Celtic: Mulumbu hands league leaders second defeat

KILMARNOCK

Jamie MacDonald – 6

Surprisingly under-used against a shot-shy Celtic, but saved well from Olivier Ntcham’s free kick late on to ensure Kilmarnock held onto the three points.
Stephen O’Donnell – 7
Most of Celtic’s attack came down his flank but he coped well against Kieran Tierney in the first half and Scott Sinclair in the second.
Kirk Broadfoot – 7

Other than conceding a late free-kick which nearly proved costly, Broadfoot was a solid presence at the heart of the Kilmarnock defence.
Gordon Greer – 8
One of his best performances since joining in the summer, Greer and his centre half partner, Broadfoot, ensured that Celtic rarely got a sniff of the home goal. Easily won the contest with Moussa Dembele.
Greg Taylor – 7

Kept James Forrest quiet in the first half and did his best to support Jordan Jones going forward. The second half proved more of a defensive challenge but coped well against an improved Celtic.
Rory McKenzie – 6
Worked hard throughout to put pressure on Celtic’s back line and helped push Kilmarnock further up the pitch when under pressure.
Gary Dicker – 7
A less showy performance than his midfield colleague, Mulumbu, but was no less effective in denying Celtic space in the middle of the park.

Youssouf Mulumbu – 9
Mulumbu’s quality was evident throughout the game; harrying Celtic relentlessly in possession and providing the platform for the majority of Kilmarnock’s attacks. He became an increasing threat in the final third after Steve Clarke changed tactics and deserved his well-taken goal.
Jordan Jones – 7
Jones was Kilmarnock’s primary threat and, at times, tormented Celtic debutant Jack Hendry with his direct running. His final ball was often disappointing, but made up for it with the assist for Mulumbu’s goal.
Eamon Brophy – 6
Much like McKenzie, contributed plenty of hard work and energy although was largely starved of the ball.
Kris Boyd – 6
Tested Dorus de Vries with a couple of efforts, but struggled to fashion any clear cut openings and was substituted just after the hour.
SUBS
Aaron Tshibola – 7
With Celtic beginning to exert some sustained pressure in the second half, the new signing from Aston Villa helped wrestled momentum back for Kilmarnock.
Lee Erwin – N/A
Came on with the game stretched in the final stages and nearly set up a second Kilmarnock goal.
Stuart Findlay – N/A
Late sub.
CELTIC
Dorus de Vries – 6
An unconvincing performance from De Vries, who poorly parried a Jordan Jones shot in the first half and struggled to pass out from the back. Made a couple of good saves from Mulumbu and Jones in the final stages.
Kristoffer Ajer – 5
Substituted after 35 minutes, having picked up a knock he couldn’t shake off.
Jack Hendry – 5
A difficult debut for the former Dundee player. Competed well in the physical duel with Kris Boyd, but struggled up against the dangerous Jordan Jones. Looked nervous when asked to travel out of defence with the ball.
Dedryck Boyata – N/A
Suffered a groin injury within the first ten minutes and had to be replaced.
James Forrest – 6
An unusually inert performance from one of Celtic’s best performers this season. After a very quiet first half, he began to stretch the Kilmarnock defence with some powerful runs midway through the second period, but he faded again as the clock wound down.
Eboue Kouassi – 5
A largely anonymous performance from the midfielder, who was outclassed by his Kilmarnock counterparts.
Scott Brown – 6
Scott Brown rarely loses individual battles, but he met his match in Mulumbu, who won a number of important 50-50 challenges against the Scotland midfielder.
Kieran Tierney – 6
Tierney showed his versatility once again for Brendan Rodgers, starting on the left flank before an injury crisis forced him into the role of emergency centre half. He had looked Celtic’s best attacking outlet until the formation change.
Charly Musonda – 6
Celtic’s new signing from Chelsea showed flashes of quality but too often his tricks and flicks were deployed far from the Kilmarnock goal, as the home side limited the space for him to operate in. One snap-shot in the second half was as close as he came to scoring a goal on his full debut.
Moussa Dembele – 5
There was nothing at Rugby Park to suggest Dembele is likely to overcome his form slump any time soon. The Frenchman was subdued throughout, finding space in the opposition box difficult to come by as he struggled to impose himself on the game.
Olivier Ntcham – 6
Came closest to scoring for Celtic with a free kick in each half. Saw lots of the ball but struggled to impose himself in an attacking sense.
SUBS
Nir Bitton – 6
An admirable performance blotted by his failure to pick up Mulumbu in the box as Kilmarnock took the lead. He arrived into the fray after the early injury to Boyata and provided much needed composure either side of his inexperienced centre-half partners, but his late mistake proved costly.
Scott Sinclair – 5
In a game with few clear cut opportunities, Sinclair appeared to have been presented one midway through the second half, but he took a bad touch in the home box and the chance disappeared. It summed up an ineffectual appearance from the substitute.
Odsonne Edouard – N/A
Came on late and failed to make a meaningful impression as Celtic chased the game.

BBC
“We can blame injuries, we can look at the pitch and all sorts where it’s very difficult to play, but the bottom line is we weren’t so good today. Very disappointing result.”
Rodgers will not know the full extent of Boyata’s groin problem and Ajer’s ankle injury until the two players undergo scans on Sunday, but he is already without goalkeeper Craig Gordon and striker Leigh Griffiths for the Europa League last-32 tie against Zenit St Petersburg on 15 and 22 February, while German defender Marvin Compper could also miss out.
The Celtic manager felt the lost of the two defenders – Boyata in the 10th minute, Ajer in the 35th minute – affected his team’s display.
“It doesn’t help, certainly, when you lose two of your back three so early in the game,” Rodgers said.
“It means you’ve got to change and alter people’s positioning and obviously differ your plans. With the ball, with so much talent on the field, we didn’t create a great deal either.”
Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke said his players were rewarded for the discipline of their play but also bringing the commitment and organisation of their work on the training ground into competitive games.
The win was Kilmarnock’s fifth in a row at home, and moved them into the top six before the rest of the Premiership games had kicked off.
“We kept our shape, we believed in what we were trying to do and when we grew into the game we started to play some really good stuff,” Clarke said.
“When you look at the game overall, there’s not too many people that would grudge us that win.
“It’s easy to do it on the training pitch. The hardest thing is to take that level of quality into a big game like that, against the best side in the country by a distance.
“I’ve got belief in these players. If we can continue that in the coming weeks then we can have a decent season.”
Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd said the team worked during the week on closing down space in the middle, to deny Celtic room in the final third.
“Celtic didn’t really cut us open, we were organised and we worked all week on being compact in the middle of the pitch,” Boyd said.
“In the first half we had numerous opportunities to put the ball into the box and didn’t do it, but in the second half we did and you saw the difference. We could have had two or three others after that.
“We said it from day one when the manager came in, there was a change because he brought that experience, he’s been at the top level. From the first time that he spoke to us we knew that if we listened there was going to be a change in the fortunes of this club. We’ve put a run of games in now at home.”
BBC
Youssouf Mulumbu’s first goal for Kilmarnock condemned Celtic to only their second domestic defeat under Brendan Rodgers.
The midfielder scored in the second half to deliver the reward for the home side’s disciplined display.
Mulumbu should have scored again late on, but Dorus de Vries saved.