Celtic took any fears over Kilmarnock’s artificial pitch in their stride as Ange Postecoglou’s champions were fantastic on plastic with a Sunday stroll in the Ayrshire sunshine over the Scottish Premiership new boys.
It was three and easy in the first half for the Hoops thanks to Kyogo’s early opener before Jota fired a screamer and Moritz Jenz scored an acrobatic effort on the stroke of half-time. Carl Starfelt added a fourth with his first goal for the club before fellow substitute Giorgos Giakoumakis netted a fifth to continue Celtic’s perfect start to the defence of their league title. Celtic now take on Hearts at home next before a trip to Dundee United ahead of that massive first derby of the season.
So much was made of the plastic pitch on a scorching day and whether the sticky surface would disrupt the champions free-flowing style. Well, it didn’t take long for the answer with the clock just short of the seventh minute when the visitors took the lead.
