| Match Pictures | Matches: 2019 – 2020 | 2019-20 Pictures |
Trivia
- Former Celtic Chief Exec Fergus McCann made a surprise visit to Celtic, and very welcome he was too. Saviour of the club. Did the half-time draw and gave some words of encouragement to the support.
- Celtic come back from behind to win 3-1 with double from Edouard.
- Debut start for Bauer.
- Scott Brown concedes a needless penalty again, and there are concerns if this is a sure sign of his declining form. Forster saved the penalty!
- Kilmarnock scored a brilliant goal to give them a lead.
- Sevco won 4-0 and stay in touch with Celtic, but Celtic still ahead in the league.
- Former Celtic captain Gary Caldwell has been sacked as Partick Thistle manager – just one week before he takes the Maryhill side to Parkhead in the Betfred League Cup.
- TheRangers: Sad news, former Rangers and Zenit defender Fernando Ricksen has died aged 43 following a battle with motor neurone disease. RIP; a minute’s applause before in his memory.
- Catholic schools should be abolished to end divisions fuelling resurgent sectarian violence in Glasgow, a former senior police officer has said. Turns out this guy who said it is an orangeman/freemason etc.
- Jozo Simunovic out of match, needed some knee surgery.
- Rugby World Cup started in Japan. First game for both: Scotland v Ireland in this morning before Celtic match. Ireland won 27-3, various record lows in this game for Scotland. Scotland useless and likely RWC is already over according to many, would face NZ in KO stage if they qualify.
- Thomas Cook (flight operator) goes bust in the UK, est 15k to be possibly made redundant.
Review
"And I'm with you as we look forward to nine MORE in a row."
Aside from the excellent spells either side of half time I thought we were quite flat today and never moved the ball as quickly as recent games.
Wish the manager would play our best player James Forrest on the right his best position.
Also thought bringing on Rogic was strange when we should have shut the game down. Big Tam looks as though he has slowed down during his absence. Give him 90 minutes on Wednesday.
Teams
Celtic
67Forster
13Bauer Substituted forElhamedat 79'minutes
2Jullien Substituted forRogicat 84'minutes
35Ajer
23Bolingoli-Mbombo
8Brown
42McGregor
49Forrest
21Ntcham Substituted forHayesat 73'minutes
17ChristieBooked at 28mins
22Edouard
Substitutes
1Gordon
3Taylor
10Bayo
15Hayes
18Rogic
27Elyounoussi
33Elhamed
Goals
- Edouard (44' minutes, 53' minutes),
- Christie (57' minutes)
Kilmarnock
12Branescu
2O'Donnell
26Del Fabro
17Findlay
14Hämäläinen
7McKenzie Substituted forThomasat 82'minutes
8Dicker
6Power
15El MakriniBooked at 75mins
9Brophy Substituted forSowat 79'minutes
11Millar Substituted forSt. Clairat 72'minutes
Substitutes
4Bruce
5Johnson
23Thomas
24Koprivec
25St. Clair
28Sow
29Burke
Goals
- Brophy (33' minutes)
Referee:
Greg Aitken
Attendance:
57,137
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
MOTM
- Voting Thread
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Possession
Home66%
Away34%
Shots
Home21
Away6
Shots on Target
Home11
Away3
Corners
Home5
Away4
Fouls
Home9
Away8
Articles
Celtic 3 – 1 Kilmarnock: Lennon's men fight from goal down to maintain 100% record
Odsonne Edouard celebrates after netting Celtic's equaliser. Picture: SNS
Odsonne Edouard celebrates after netting Celtic's equaliser. Picture: SNS
Stephen Halliday
Email
Published: 14:56 Sunday 22 September 2019
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-3-1-kilmarnock-lennon-s-men-fight-from-goal-down-to-maintain-100-record-1-5008963Celtic showed no sign of travel weariness as they returned home after a month-long spell on the road to maintain their 100 percent winning start in the Scottish Premiership.
Neil Lennon’s side were briefly under threat of dropping their first points of the season when Eamonn Brophy put Kilmarnock ahead against the run of play but a double from Odsonne Edouard and another strike from the prolific Ryan Christie ensured they stayed three points clear of Rangers at the top of the table.
Their first match at Celtic Park in four weeks was watched by club saviour and former chief executive Fergus McCann who, during an interval appearance on the pitch, addressed the home fans with a rallying cry for ‘9 more in a row’. The Scottish champions are so far ticking every box in their bid to make it nine successive title wins this season.
Kilmarnock have steadied their own ship after an excruciating start to life under Angelo Alessio, the pain of that Europa League exit against Connah’s Quay Nomads salved somewhat by their recent domestic form.
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They arrived in the east end of Glasgow on the back of a four-match unbeaten domestic run and proved both organised and focused enough to initially provide a stern test for Celtic.
Lennon’s men spent most of the afternoon on the front foot but found themselves facing some dogged defending.
James Forrest, starting out on the left, carried the biggest threat from the hosts as he gave his Scotland international team-mate Stephen O’Donnell a torrid examination.
Forrest was unfortunate not to give Celtic the lead in the 16th minute when he cut inside and unleashed a shot which struck Laurentiu Branescu’s right hand post with the ‘keeper beaten.
A mistake from O’Donnell gave Edouard his first clear sight of goal a minute later but he was denied by Branescu’s brave save at his feet.
The Romanian ‘keeper was suddenly a very busy man. He spilled Forrest’s next attempt before his defence scrambled clear, then made a smart stop to his right to keep out yet another shot from the winger.
Celtic had a strong appeal for a penalty rejected by referee Greg Aitken in the 27th minute when Alan Power looked to have blocked Forrest’s latest shot with a hand. Killie were hanging on grimly and had another let-off when Boli Bolingoli screwed a simple chance wildly off target.
To compound Celtic’s sense of frustration, they found themselves trailing six minutes later when Brophy plundered Killie’s unlikely opener. Mohamed El Makrini’s through ball caught the home defence flat-footed and Brophy was able to muscle his way beyond a couple of lacklustre challenges and crash a smart finish high beyond Fraser Forster.
Celtic looked briefly rattled by their unexpected setback but regained their poise and purpose in time to find an equaliser just before half-time.
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Forrest surged away from O’Donnell and delivered a perfect cross which Edouard met with a firm downward header from the edge of the six yard box to beat Branescu.
Celtic made a storming start to the second half and were in firm control of the contest before the hour mark. Branescu made an acrobatic save to claw away Olivier Ntcham’s curling shot two minutes after the restart but could not prevent Edouard putting the champions in front six minutes later.
A clever reverse pass from right-back Moritz Bauer, making his first starting appearance for Celtic, found Edouard on the right hand corner of the six yard box and he drove a low shot under Branescu.
If Edouard has been very much Celtic’s leading light in attack this season, he nonetheless remains behind Christie in the scoring charts. The in-form playmaker won’t score many simpler than the 57th minute tap-in which gave him his 10th goal of the season after Branescu had done well to block Forrest’s close range header from a Bolingoli cross.
Celtic looked set for a carefree passage to the final whistle but suffered a blow with the loss of central defender Christopher Jullien to injury, then were left both bemused and enraged by referee Aitken’s 86th minute award of a penalty to Kilmarnock for home skipper Scott Brown’s challenge on substitute Osman Sow.
Brown appeared to have won the ball cleanly and there was a sense of justice being done when Forster dived to his right to save Power’s poorly struck attempt from the spot. Lennon’s exasperated show of dissent at the original decision was still enough to earn him a yellow card from Aitken.
The outstanding Forrest was denied the goal his performance merited when he struck the crossbar with two minutes remaining but he and his team-mates could feel more than content with their afternoon’s work.
BBC
By Martin Watt
BBC Scotland
From the section Scottish Premiership
Highlights: Celtic 3-1 Kilmarnock
Celtic remain three points clear in the Scottish Premiership with a 100% record after delivering a devastating response to Kilmarnock's shock opener.
Eamonn Brophy's deflected strike gave the visitors a first-half advantage against the run of play, but an Odsonne Edouard double either side of half-time turned Celtic's deficit into a lead.
Ryan Christie netted their third before the hour before Kilmarnock midfielder Alan Power had a late penalty saved by Fraser Forster after Scott Brown tripped Osman Sow.
Celtic knew they had no margin for error with Rangers briefly moving joint top with victory at St Johnstone in Sunday's earlier game.
But Neil Lennon's men were inspired by victory by the terrific James Forrest, who had a hand in two goals as well as hitting the woodwork twice.
The defeat ended Kilmarnock's four-game unbeaten run and leaves them in seventh place with seven points.
Lennon hails 'superb' Celtic display
Reaction & as it happened
Forrest revels in unfamiliar role
Rivalries were set aside before kick-off as the fans paid their respects to Fernando Ricksen with a minute's applause in memory of the former Rangers player, who died last week at age 43.
Kilmarnock headed to Glasgow's East End in good form but Celtic's Premiership results after European away action this season have been emphatic – winning 7-0 at home to St Johnstone, 5-2 at Motherwell and 2-0 at Rangers.
The Scottish champions could have been leggy after their energy-sapping exertions in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Rennes. Instead, they had a spring in their step and Forrest ran the show with a standout performance full of verve.
The right winger revelled in his role on the left, constantly cutting inside to leave Kilmarnock floundering. Forrest had five shots at goal in the opening 25 minutes – three saved, one rattled off a post and one blocked by Power, leading to forlorn penalty shouts from the hosts.
A goal was inevitable. That it came at the other end was a major surprise.
A lovely pass from Kilmarnock midfielder Mohamed El Makrini on the left flank touchline Brophy on the edge of the box. He had three defenders for company, but got a shot away and it looped over Forster with the aid of a deflection off Kristoffer Ajer.
Celtic stat
Celtic stayed calm and sought an instant response. Edouard and Ajer came close but just as Kilmarnock looked to make to it half-time intact, Forrest sliced them open. The 28-year-old raced down the left and delivered a pinpoint cross for the rising Edouard to power a header past Laurent Branescu.
And 15 minutes into the second half Celtic were bounding clear a two-goal advantage. Branescu, who had clawed a curling Olivier Ntcham effort away from his top corner, was powerless to prevent Edouard slipping a low shot in at the near post for his eighth goal of the season after a lovely reverse pass from Moritz Bauer.
Forrest's efforts deserved a goal. He had to make do with a hand in the third, meeting Boli Bolingoli's cross with a header that Branescu did well to keep out, before Christie followed up to bundle home the rebound.
And the Scotland winger, back on the right flank in the closing stages, knew it wasn't his day to get on the scoresheet when a piercing run ended with his drive deflecting on to the bar and away to safety.
That would have made the result even more emphatic but there were a couple of second-half scares for the hosts. Forster had to be at his best to tip over a rasping Brophy strike, and the goalkeeper dived to his right to push away Power's spot-kick after a rash Brown challenge on Sow.
Edouard's double proved decisive in the end, although the sight of fellow Frenchman, centre-back Christopher Jullien, going with injured, was a late moment of concern for Celtic fans.
Eamonn Brophy silenced Celtic Park with a first-half opener
Eamonn Brophy silenced Celtic Park with a first-half opener
Man of the match – James Forrest
BBC Scotland's Alasdair Lamont at Celtic Park
It may seem odd not to award the accolade to the two-goal Edouard, who was clinical again, but Forrest was unplayable and will wonder how on earth he has failed to get on the scoresheet.
He hit the post as he peppered Branescu's goal with shots in the first period, provided the equaliser for Edouard and in the second half was somehow denied by the keeper from six yards before Christie turned in the third. A marvellous performance from the winger.
'Lead flattered Kilmarnock' – reaction
Celtic manager Neil Lennon: "It was an outstanding performance. We deserved so much more from the first half. Coming in level was flattering to Kilmarnock.
"We had 14 attempts at goal in the first half – some teams don't get that many in 90 minutes. The players are doing everything we're asking of them. That's six wins out of six and a magnificent start to the season."
Kilmarnock manager Angelo Alessio: "It was a shame because we lost a goal in the last minute of the first half. It is much better to go into the changing room at 1-0.
"We can put pressure on Celtic, but this is a tough game. The second half was very difficult for us, because Celtic pushed very high. We made two mistakes and Edouard scored two goals."