Scottish Premiership
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Celtic Park

KILMARNOCK… 1
(Burke, pen 23)

CELTIC… 1
(Christie 11)

CELTIC were held to a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this afternoon (Sunday) on Matchday Two of the Scottish Premiership. Ryan Christie put the champions in front after seven minutes before Chris Burke equalised from the penalty spot with 23 minutes on the clock.

Despite the lacking atmosphere inside the stadium, both sides attacked with intent from the outset, pushing high up the pitch, and tackling aggressively in an attempt to get a foothold on the game.

As both sets of players settled into the match, Kilmarnock sat deep, often with 10 men behind the ball, and sought to catch the visitors out on the counter-attack. Despite their efforts, Christie put the Hoops in front when he fired a free-kick home from 25-yards, striking straight through the ball, sending it into the corner of the net past Killie stopper Danny Rogers.

Buoyed by their goal, Celtic continued to play football in the home side’s half, but, to Kilmarnock’s credit, the Ayrshire side remained well-organised in defence. Keen to play long over passing from the back, Alex Dyer’s men pulled level on 23 minutes via a Chris Burke penalty, when Nicke Kabamba was fouled by Christopher Jullien inside the box.

Kilmarnock sat in for much of the latter half of the first period, with Celtic struggling to unpick the home side’s low block. In turn, this meant Hoops debutant Vasilis Barkas had little to do between the sticks – however the Greek internationalist did pass well from the back and commanded his area with confidence.

The Hoops first real half-chances from there came on the brink of half-time, when James Forrest’s chipped cross from the right narrowly missed the head of Odsonne Edouard; and Christie’s deep in-swinging cross likewise missed the head of the incoming Forrest.

Both sides started the second half well, but neither managed to create any clear-cut opportunities. Perhaps Celtic’s best chance of the game came on 50 minutes when Forrest and Edouard paired well on the edge of the box, but the Frenchman’s curling effort was sent high and wide of the target.

Just over the hour mark, Callum McGregor was forced to try his luck from range against a deep-sitting Kilmarnock backline, but he couldn’t keep his shot down. Playing much of their football in the final third, Celtic enjoyed length spells of possession as they pressed and pressed but Kilmarnock held firm.

Inside the final 10 minutes, Odsonne Edouard threw himself at a Greg Taylor cut-back, but despite a fine Danny Rogers stop at point-blank range, play was pulled back for a foul on Chris Burke. Three minutes after that, Christie sent a fantastic curling cross towards the head of substitute Patryk Klimala, but the Pole couldn’t connect as the ball zipped around the wrong side of the post.

In the end, Celtic claimed on a point on the road against a well organised Kilmarnock side, in what was at times a frustrating afternoon for Neil Lennon’s men.

KILMARNOCK: Rogers, Millen, Broadfoot, Findlay, Waters, Powers, Dicker, Tshibola, McKenzie (Haunstrup 46), Burke (Kiltie 85), Kabamba
Subs not used: Lyle, McGowan , Dikamona, Brophy, Whitehall, El Makrini, Pinnock

CELTIC: Barkas, Jullien, Taylor (Bolingoli 87), Brown (Ntcham 79), Christie, Edouard, Elyounoussi (Klimala 66), Frimpong (Elhamed 66), Ajer, McGregor, Forrest.
Subs not used: Bain, Bitton, Soro, Robertson, Karamoko

Celtic held to a draw against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park