Kilmarnock 1-0 Celtic: Keane overshadowed on debut

Thursday, 04 February 2010 15:55

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Killie pick up first three points against Celtic in nine years

By Will Lyon

On a chilly Tuesday night in Ayrshire, Kilmarnock produced a fantastic defensive effort to narrowly beat SPL runners up, Celtic.

New on-loan signing, Chris Maguire, scored the only goal for Kilmarnock while Celtic’s high profile addition, Robbie Keane, couldn’t find the target.

The pressure on Celtic manager Tony Mowbray increases as his side once again fail to put any pressure on top of the table, Rangers.

However, it was the away side that started the match better as they camped inside the Kilmarnock half. Ki Sung Yueng had the first two chances of the game. On the 5th minute a cross from Andreas Hinkel wasn’t dealt with by the Killie defence, but as the ball fell at his feet, Ki shot over the bar. The second chance came just a minute later as he hit a decent freekick from 25 yards, but Cameron Bell in the home side’s goal pushed the ball wide.

Following a comfortable save from Bell after a deflected Aiden McGeady drive on the 7th minute, Kilmarnock started to exert some offensive pressure on the away side. The 10th minute saw Liam Kelly hit a good effort from 25 yards out but Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc had it covered and just 3 minutes later, a long throw to target man Kevin Kyle again found the safe hands of the Pole.

The last chance of Kilmarnock’s offensive spell came on the 19th minute as Jamie Hamill hit another shot on target for the home side. However, Celtic just 1 minute later should have taken the lead through Marc-Antoine Fortuné as he got his head on the end of a corner, just 6 yards out and Cameron Bell in the Killie goal was beaten, but Gary Hay was on hand to clear the ball off the line.

Kilmarnock hit back with through Kyle as he went close at the back post from a neat corner, but Glenn Loovens deflected the ball wide of the mark.

After a quiet opening spell, Celtic’s big signing, Keane, was finally involved in the match. On the 30th minute Killie gave up possession in their own half to McGeady, who ran through the home side’s defence and slipped the ball to Keane, but the on-loan striker placed his shot wide of the goal.

Just 4 minutes later Keane had another opportunity to score as the referee allowed play to carry on when Fortuné was fouled outside the box, but as the Irishman picked up the loose ball, his chip careered harmlessly over the bar.

Celtic pushed for the lead before half time and Keane again had a chance to score as he made an overlapping run into the box, but Bell rushed off his line to meet the striker and pulled off a great save.

At half time it’d be fair to say that Celtic had been the better team, but Kilmarnock were not rolling over and had some good spells of pressure themselves.

Celtic came out flying in the second half as Paul Caddis hit a sweet cross into the Killie box, but Fulham loanee Diomansy Kamara wasted the chance by heading harmlessly over.

Despite initial good pressure, disaster struck for the Glasgow side just 8 minutes from the break. The skilful Mehdi Taouil beat his man on the right wing and slipped a pass to Maguire who found himself with time and space in the Celtic box and he made no mistake at finding the bottom corner of the net.

Celtic struggled to find their feet after conceding the goal and it wasn’t till the 61st minute that they threatened again. Fortuné ran with the ball to the edge of six yard box, but as he had done in the first half, Bell was quick off his line and got down well to block the Frenchman’s effort.

As Celtic began to panic and push men upfront, Kilmarnock responded by slowing down play and set up as a very defensive unit.

However, Celtic were always going to be dangerous as the Ayrshire side began to tire. After all, it was the home side’s 6th match in just 18 days. On the 77th minute Loovens found himself with a free header from a corner, just six yards out but somehow he headed the ball across goal, just inches wide of the post.

Two minutes later, Celtic found themselves with another fantastic opportunity as a McGeady cross was only cleared by the Kilmarnock defence to Ki who had ample time and space to shoot, but once again, the young South Korean hit the ball wide.

Yet the plucky Kilmarnock weren’t finished themselves, and just 5 minutes from time they broke up the park for a two on two situation. Craig Bryson managed to slot the ball through to Hamill who hit a great shot, but Boruc made an even better save.

The last real Celtic opportunity came on the 86th minute as Kamara played a through ball to Keane, the Irishman mis-controlled initially, but the ball deflected back to him  and he shot right into the oncoming Killie keeper’ who made another great save.

Celtic huffed and puffed for the remainder of the match but the Kilmarnock defence held strong and picked up a fantastic victory for themselves. Jimmy Calderwood will be delighted with his first league win as Killie boss, but Mowbray will be left scratching his head as his side once again fails to click.