I watched Kilmarnock vs Celtic from press box: 3 things I spotted as Schmeichel oozes class & hosts rue missed chances

Goals from Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn helped Below-par Celtic return to the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

The Hoops - who have tasted defeat in Ayrshire a few times in recent years - were aiming for a similar repeat of the 5-0 thrashing they dished out to Derek McInnes’ side to clinch the league title here last season.

Manager Brendan Rodgers made two noteworthy alterations to his starting line-up with star striker Kyogo Furuhashi dropping to the bench and first choice centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers left out of the matchday squad all together as a precaution on account of the artificial playing surface. That saw Adam Idah handed only his third league start of the campaign and Liam Scales also drafted into the XI.

On Remembrance Sunday, the pre-match minute’s silence was disrupted and had to be cut short by referee Nick Walsh, but the game got off to a lively start. The first talking point came after 12 minutes when Idah was caught in the face by a flailing Joe Wright elbow during an aerial duel that earned the Kilmarnock defender - sent off twice already this season - an early booking and the ex-Norwich City frontman requiring a lengthy period of on-field treatment. VAR checked the tackle and deemed a yellow card sufficient.

Both goalkeepers remained largely untested during the opening half hour. The visitors did have their moments with a well-worked corner finding Callum McGregor on the edge of the box. The midfielder sliced his effort goalwards but it still required home stopper Robby McCrorie to tip the ball round the post.

The hosts refused to sit in and were eager to take the game to the champions during the first-half without creating many clear-cut opportunities. That was until the 35th minute when an intricate passing move involving Kyle Vassell and Liam Donnelly cut the visitors backline open. Marley Watkins found himself one-v-one with the keeper and clipped his shot over Kasper Schmeichel but could only watch on in agony after seeing his effort come back off the far post and cleared behind to safety.

Kilmarnock were getting plenty of joy down Celtic’s left-hand side and they passed up another good chance to break the deadlock three minutes before the interval. Brad Lyons found himself in acres of space to pick out Vassell unmarked in the box. The powerful striker took a touch before firing narrowly over the crossbar on the turn. It was a moment that the home support prayed wouldn’t come back to haunt their team.

And Celtic did almost open the scoring on the stroke of half-time. McGregor started the move, finding Nicolas Kuhn on the right touchline. The German winger raced clear of his marker before finding Idah with a low cross, but the Republic of Ireland international failed to get a clean connection on his first-time effort.

Matter not, though. In the third minute of injury-time at the end of the first-half, Celtic struck through their skipper. McGregor’s cross from a central position towards the back post fooled McCrorie in the Kilmarnock goal and nestled in the bottom corner. Idah was initially credited with the goal but on second glance he didn’t get a touch on the ball.

That was a real sickener for Killie, who will have felt extremely hard done by after dominating large spells, but they were quick out of the blocks at the start of the second period with substitute Innes Cameron stinging the palms of Schmeichel from an angled drive. It was all one-way traffic as the home side continues to apply the pressure. A Matty Kennedy corner wasn’t then cleared by Celtic’s rearguard, allowing Corrie Ndaba a free-header but it trundled inches wide of the target.

Celtic were living dangerously at the back and Schmeichel had to be alert on a couple of occasions as Kilmarnock threatened an equaliser. However, Nicolas Kuhn spurned a gilt-edged chance to double the visitors’ lead after being slid in by Idah with the wide man somehow failing to get the better of McCrorie from six-yards out with the keeper producing a sensational save.

Moments later, Schmeichel had to stop another Cameron strike before pulling of a terrific diving save to tip Kennedy’s goal-bound effort behind for a corner. That led Rodgers to turn to his bench just beyond the hour mark with Kyogo and Paulo Bernardo introduced for Idah and Arne Engels to inject more energy and help the Parkhead side exude more control on the game.

It worked as Celtic eventually doubled their advantage with 20 minutes remaining to all-but extinguish hopes of a Kilmarnock comeback. It was a goal they so desperately needed and another moment of magic from Kuhn. A long ball over the top saw the 24-year-old dart away from Deas before skipping away from David Watson’s challenge and curling into the bottom corner of the net - his 10th goal of the season and saw him become the club’s top scorer in the process.

I was in the press box to take in the match. Here are three things I spotted from the game:

Killie left to rue missed chances

Pat Nevin summed it up perfectly. If Kilmarnock had a Kyogo Furuhashi or an Adam Idah in their side, they would easily have had two or three. Somehow the Ayrshire outfit failed to take one of their many opportunities. Derek McInnes’ men bossed proceedings for large spells but couldn’t turn their dominance into goals. They were punished just before the break, but still looked the more likely to score after the restart. Had it not been for some Schmeichel heroics this could’ve been a totally different outcome.

Celtic find a way to get job done

This was an extremely flat performance from Brendan Rodgers’ men. They huffed and puffed but rarely looked like troubling Robby McCrorie during the first-half. It was left for McGregor to produce the sucker punch right on half-time and another moment of individual brilliance from Kuhn to kill off the game and wrap up three points for the Hoops.

Schmeichel oozed class to keep clean sheet

Outstanding with the ball at his feet. Commanding his box with aplomb. Producing top-class saves when it counts. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better goalkeeper performance this season. The Danish international was forced into making more saves than he has in any other Premiership game this season. Time and time again Schmeichel was called on to prevent Kilmarnock from scoring. His diving stop from Matty Kennedy’s curling strike was remarkable. There was even time for some late showboating from the vastly experienced 38-year-old when he managed to roulette away from a pressing Kilmarnock striker.