Scottish Premiership Match Report: Celtic 3-1 Kilmarnock

Celtic came back from behind to claim all three points with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock at home in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, as Neil Lennon’s side maintained their perfect record in the league. 

Eamonn Brophy’s opener was cancelled out by Odsonne Edouard just the stroke of the interval before two goals in quick succession early in the second half secured all three points for the reigning champions. 

Lennon only made only a couple of changes to the eleven that played out a 1-1 draw against Rennes on Matchday 1 of the Europa League in the midweek fixture, with Moritz Bauer replacing Hatem Abd Elhamed at right-back and Olivier Ntcham getting the nod ahead of Southampton loanee Mohamed Elyounoussi. 

Celtic started off as the brighter of the two sides and looked more likely to score, with James Forrest hitting the post in the opening stages of the game before calling goalkeeper Laurentiu Branescu into action on a couple of occasions thereafter. 

With Kilmarnock prepared to sit deep and absorb the pressure, the Hoops carved out plenty of clear-cut opportunities and Edouard found himself in a couple of promising situations in the final third, only to be denied by some latch-ditch defending and resolute goalkeeping by Branescu.

It was Kille, though, who silenced the home crowd with an opener much against the run of play. El Makrini’s inch-perfect pass from the outside of the boot found Brophy, who shifted the ball on to his right foot and absolutely smashed the ball past Fraser Forster into the net to hand Angelo Alessio’s side a 1-0 lead. 

However, it didn’t take long for the Hoops to respond and Edouard restored parity just at the stroke of half-time, heading home a perfect cross delivered from the left by James Forrest. 

With the scores tied at 1-1, both the teams had plenty to play for in the second half and Celtic looked determined to put the game to bed. Moritz Bauer’s perfect ball from the right was finished off clinically by Edouard from a tight angle in the 53rd minute before Ryan Christie made it 3-1 in favour of the hosts just four minutes after. 

Killie never really threatened to get themselves back into the contest but they did have a glimmer of hope when Scott Brown’s challenge on Osman Sow inside the box was deemed worthy of a penalty by the referee, with the penalty call drawing angry reactions from Neil Lennon, who got himself into the referee’s book for dissent. 

It didn’t come back to haunt the Hoops, though, as Forster made a fine save to deny Alan Power from twelve yards and the hosts could have come away with a more resounding scoreline had Forrest managed to grab his chance late on.  

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Nevertheless, it was a well-deserved victory for the Hoops and the three points ensured that they preserved their three-point lead over archrivals Rangers, who beat St. Johnstone 4-0 away from home. 

Here’s how some of the Celtic fans reacted to the 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock:-