Bhoys Are Back On Track

Celtic 4-1 Kilmarnock: Official TC Match Report

Celtic 4-1 Kilmarnock
Scottish Premier League
Wednesday, January 20, 2013
Parkhead​

Celtic recovered from their weekend horror show at Hampden against St Mirren in the League Cup semi-final in the best way possible by beating Kilmarnock comfortably 4-1 at Parkhead on a cold Wednesday night in Glasgow. It was Celtic's Welsh boys who starred on the night as Joe Ledley and Adam Matthews scored three of Celtic's four while the other was nabbed by returning striker Anthony Stokes. Former Bhoy Cillian Sheridan scored for Killie just after the break.

The home side should have been ahead with barely 10 minutes on the clock when Georgios Samaras rounded Cammy Bell with ease but panicked with the finish and blasted into the side netting although it was all the Hoops throughout the opening exchanges.

Emilio Izaguirre hobbled off injured for Celtic after 35 minutes to be replaced by Ledley and this proved to be a blessing in disguise of sorts for Neil Lennon as it was the former Cardiff City man who gave his side the lead just before the break. Following a scare at the other end when Lukasz Zaluska and Kelvin Wilson had to scramble to clear, Ledley picked up the ball on the edge of the Killie penalty area and looked up before blasting a delightful left foot drive over Bell and in.

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The lead did not last long for Celtic though as, after just three minutes of the second half, Kenny Sheils men again gave them a scare when Sheridan capitalised on a lack of communication in the Bhoys defence after chasing down a William Gros ball across the box and poking the ball into the empty net.

However, if the Hoops lead did not last long, Kilmarnock's restoring parity lasted an even shorter time as barely two minutes later, Celtic's other Welsh dragon Matthews found himself in an advanced position on the edge of the opposition area, not to dissimilar to that which his compatriot had early found himself in, and drove a powerful shot past Bell which left the 'keeper with no chance.

Celtic began to hit their stride from that point on and hit their third in the closing stages when Stokes, on as a substitute for Kris Commons, scored with a typical 'Stokesy' goal. Latching on to a perfect through ball, he held his line well before knocking the ball past Bell and although the angle was against him, he kept his head to put the ball into the far corner of the net.

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With just under 10 minutes remaining, Celtic put the seal on the victory when right-back Matthews again popped up in advanced territory to tap the ball home from close range for an easy finish and score his third of the season, certainly starting to show that he has a welcome eye for goal.

Understandably, Lennon was happy afterwards as to how his side responded to their disappointing defeat at Hampden. "It was what I expected and I know they might not get a lot of credit for that but they will in the dressing room. It was a great team performance and in the last three home games, we have 12 goals and are 15 points clear now with Inverness losing," he said.

"They showed great mentality to bounce back so well and, to be honest with you, it could have been 10. We missed so many good chances in the second half. Hooper of all people could have had three or four, Commons as well, but I know what I get with those two, they are good footballers and I will get goals from them from here on in."


Celtic: Zaluska, Matthews, Lustig, Wilson, Izaguirre (Ledley 35), Brown, Mulgrew, Wanyama, Commons (Stokes 74), Samaras (Watt 44), Hooper.
Subs not used: Thomson, Rogne, Kayal, Lassad.

Kilmarnock: Bell, Tesselaar, Fowler, McKeown (O'Leary 72), Barbour, O'Hara, Sissoko, Dayton, Winchester (Racchi 61), Gros (Heffernan 86).
Subs not used: Letheren, Hay, Pascali, Perez.


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