Celtic dug out a gritty win over an impressive Kilmarnock side as goals from captain Callum McGregor and the red-hot Nicolas Kuhn gave them three points that looked far from assured at various points of a hard-fought encounter at Rugby Park.
There was controversy before the game as a section of the Celtic support again chose to disrupt the period of silence on Remembrance Sunday by staging a protest.
If that was to be expected, the start to the game from Kilmarnock perhaps wasn’t, with Derek McInnes’s men coming haring out of the traps and looking the most likely to hit the front.
A fortuitous McGregor goal just before the break though and a well-taken second from Kuhn – his 21st goal involvement of the season already – ensured that Brendan Rodgers and his men claimed a priceless win to move back to the top of the table.
Ruthless Celtic show why they are champions
It is no secret that a visit to Rugby Park is one of the major hurdles for the Old Firm to clear on their way to a title, and this was indeed an almighty test of Celtic’s credentials.
It does something of a disservice to Killie to put that down to the threadbare plastic pitch – though it undoubtedly plays a part – and the home side will likely feel hard done by to have come away with a 2-0 defeat here, and will be scratching their heads as to how they didn’t at least find the net once.
Where they were profligate though, Celtic had a mix of some good fortune in front of goal allied to some ruthless finishing, and a brilliant showing from their keeper was enough for them to prevail where Rangers had failed so miserably three weeks previously.
That is why they are champions, and why - despite Aberdeen hoping to have a say in the matter - they very likely will be again come May.
McInnes first half masterclass, but Celtic get noses in front
Much is made of McInnes’s tactical nous, but on the evidence of the plan he concocted to stymie Celtic, it is often justified.
The Killie boss had full back, the outstanding Corrie Ndaba, ostensibly operating in front of his back three, but the big man was everywhere in the opening 45 minutes as he followed Arne Engels around like he was a snarling, ravenous stray and the Belgian kid had a pound of link sausages in his back pocket.
Engels certainly wasn’t enjoying the physical attention, and neither were the rest of his teammates, with the likes of Reo Hatate and McGregor – so outstanding in the Champions League win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday night – being stymied as a result of the efforts of the hard-working Killie midfield.
It wasn’t all about nullifying the champions either, with the home side carving out the better opportunities before the interval, the best of which fell to Marley Watkins, who really should have backed up his winning goal against Rangers here recently by finding the net once more.
Liam Donnelly’s clever first-time pass sliced the Celtic defence in two, and Watkins drew Kasper Schmeichel before clipping the ball over the keeper and watching on as it came back off the face of the opposite post in agonising fashion before being scrambled behind by Alistair Johnston.
As impressive as Killie were, as such opportunities passed them by you rather felt they may live to regret their inability to make their impressive showing count for something tangible, and so it proved.
McGregor’s cross towards Adam Idah at the back post was missed by the big striker, but also by Robby McCrorie in the Killie goal, and the champions had a scarcely deserved lead at the break as the ball carried through and into the net.
Rodgers misstep by sending main men to the well again?
As much as there was to admire about the Kilmarnock showing, they were helped by the fact that the Celtic heroics against Leipzig in midweek seemed to have taken a fair bit out some of Rodgers’ key personnel, with the visitors struggling to match the intensity and energy of the hosts.
He did freshen up the attack, preferring the physicality of Idah over Kyogo Furuhashi, but his midfield lacked the spark for which they are so feared, while even Daizen Maeda looked a little jaded.
It was understandable perhaps with the international break coming hot on the heels of this game that the Celtic manager would have felt he could feed off the momentum and rhythm that had been building between these players of late, but in hindsight, he may have utilised more of his squad men.
Schmeichel stands tall
The Danish keeper has been impressive since making the move to Scotland, but on the domestic scene at least, he has often been relegated to the role of spectator as Celtic have dominated matches and conquered just about all before them.
In fact, he perhaps hasn’t been tested in all of his previous matches on Scottish soil as much as he was here on this one afternoon, but the veteran came up with the answers every time that Killie posed him a question.
Sometimes, those were serious tests, none more so than when the impressive Matty Kennedy weaved his way in from the left flank and looked for all the world as if he was about to level the game, only for Schmeichel to defy his 38 years by springing down to his left and getting a strong hand to the ball to tip wide.
A vintage display.
Did Reo gets away with a red card shout?
Late on in the game, the midfielder put out a jaded leg and caught Killie midfielder Donnelly high up on the shin, with referee Nick Walsh producing a yellow card for the challenge.
A VAR check ensued, with many in the home end howling for the punishment to be upgraded, but the lack of force probably saved Hatate from being ordered from the field.
On another day, he might not have been so lucky.
