Celtic 4-2 Kilmarnock

Celtic won an exhilarating encounter at home today and maintained their seven point lead at the top of the SPL despite squandering a two goal lead. The atmosphere inside the staduim was electric before kick-off as the crowd were eager to see Roy Keane make his home debut. As the Irishman entered the field he was greated by a giant card display in the Lisbon Lions Stand of an Irish flag. It was a great gesture and one I'm sure Keane appreciated.

Strachan made a few changes in personel as Celtic aimed to recover from the embarrassing Scottish Cup exit to Clyde last week. It meant that Roy Keane was given his home debut in a defensive role following Du Wei's dissapointing debut. Pearson also missed out as Petrov returned following a hamstring problem. Maloney was moved to the left side of midfield and Zurawski was given his first start in a couple of months following injury.

These changes had an instant impact as Celtic opened the scoring after only three minutes. The Japanese star Nakamura curled in a superb free-kick from 20 yards. His left foot effort flew past the hand of Alan Combe and into the top right corner of the net.

Celtic were playing some great stuff going forward but defensively they were looking suspect. Steven's Naismith's was first to test Boruc with a 20-yard strike but Artur Boruc saved comfortably. And the Polish no.1 goalkeeper was forced to pull off a great, one-handed stop to deny Colin Nish after a Naismith through ball had cut the Celtic defence wide open.

However Celtic doubled their advantage after a quarter of an hour when James Fowler felled Petrov in the area. It was a clear penalty after fast feet from the Bulgarian. Shaun Maloney coolly sent Combe the wrong way with a fine penalty and at this stage Celtic looked good for the win.

Celtic missed a good chance to kill off the game as after a great move, Zurawski fired straight at the goalkeeper. And soon after Kilmarnock made him pay for that miss when McManus' rash tackle brought down Nish in the penalty box. It was a needless penalty to conceed and a calm finish from Naismith halved the deficit.

Combe kept the lead at only one goal as he came to Kilmarnock's rescue with a great save to deny John Hartson. The Welshman is out of form currently and the goal would have done him the world of good.

Roy Keane did well to block Hay's goal-bound strike before Nish headed straight at the Celtic goalkeeper from six yards as Celtic were let off the hook just before half-time.

Kilmarnock however completed their comback as they equalised after the break when substitute Invincibile headed home a cross from Hay after Keane had lost possession. It was another weak goal for Celtic to lose as it was down to another individual error at the back.
But Kilmarnock's joy was short lived as McManus scored his third goal in three games following a fumble from Combe only two minutes later. McManus fired Celtic back into the lead from six yards after a Keane drive was blocked following a corner. The brave defender picked up a knock in the process but was able to play on.

Celtic went further ahead on 67 minutes when Zurawski got the final touch after being found by a forceful Ross Wallace cut-back. The referee's assistant ruled that the ball had crossed the line as Combe palmed clear after the striker's effort came off the underside of the bar. It was the Poles second goal in less than a week and made the game safe for Celtic.

Celtic survived a few scary moments at the back including a couple of uncharacteristic fumbles as they held on for the win. The full time whistle was met with relief all around the ground as this was an important win, especially on the back of the result last week. Defensively we still need some work and a few new faces to freshen it up but going forward we look very strong. Maloney was immense in midfield as was Nakamura who was given the man of the match award at the staduim. Despite our cup defeat, our recent form in the SPL is actually very good. In 10 games, we have won 8, drew 1 and lost 1. We shall look to continue this good run next week at Motherwell.


Celtic: (4-4-2)

Boruc

Telfer Keane McManus Wallace

Nakamura Lennon Petrov Maloney

Hartson Zurawski (McGeady 80)

Subs Not Used: Marshall, Camara, Virgo, Lawson, Thompson, Pearson.


Kilmarnock:Combe, Fowler, Lilley (Invincibile 38), Ford, Hay, Johnston, McDonald, Naismith, Wright, Nish (Di Giacomo 72), Wales (Murray 72)

Subs Not Used: Bell, Dodds, Campbell, Jamie Adams.