| Match Pictures | Matches: 1996 – 1997 | 1996-1997 Pictures |
Trivia
- Stewart Kerr signed a new 4 ½ year contract keeping him at the club to June 2001
- The club increased their pressure to try and sign Darren Jackson from Hibs, offering Morten Wieghorst along with a cash bid – according to the Press. Billy Stark, sitting in for Tommy Burns in the pre-match Press conference completely denied this rumour. Jim Duffy had just taken over as manager at Hibernian from caretaker-manager Jocky Scott and had worked with Wieghorst before.
- Kilmarnock were hampered by the loss of 11 injured or ill players and named the four youth players in their squad.
- Peter Grant, Alan Stubbs (hamstring), Brian O'Neil and Andreas Thom were all out injured
Review
On the bounceback trail following another defeat by Rangers this marked the second big win in seven days,
Teams
Celtic:
Kerr; Boyd, Gray, McNamara, MacKay, O'Donnell (Wieghorst, 73), Di Canio (Hay, 81), McStay, Van Hooijdonk, Hannah (Donnelly, 81), Cadete.
Scorers: Cadete (18), McNamara (22), Cadete (65), Wieghorst (80), Hay (88), Cadete (89)
Bookings: Di Canio (Celtic)
Kilmarnock:
Lekovic; MacPherson, Kerr, Tallon (Brown,77), McGowne, Mitchell, Reilly, Wright, Hamilton, Burke (Roberts, 77).
Non Used Sub: Doig
Bookings: Burke ,Kerr (Kilmarnock)
Referee: M McCurry (Glasgow)
Attendance: 45,724
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Kilmarnock | |
| Bookings | 1 | 2 |
| Fouls | ||
| Shots on Target | 10 | 0 |
| Corners | 10 | 0 |
| Offside | 5 | 2 |
Goal-crazy Celtic still in hunt
The Scotsman 09/01/1997
Celtic 6 Cadete (18, 65, 90), McNamara (23), Wieghorst (80), Hay (88)
Kilmarnock 0
Celtic showed they are ready to fight Rangers every inch of the way for the title by demolishing Kilmarnock at Parkhead last night, with Jorge Cadete's hat-trick taking pride of place.
The perfunctory removal of a weakened visiting side who would have been subdued by Celtic's power even if they had left Ayrshire with a full complement on board, saw Celtic reduce Rangers' lead to 11 points, with a game in hand.
Kilmarnock, meanwhile, will be able to write off the experience as an allowable loss. Games against the Old Firm are not what will determine whether Bobby Williamson's side stay in the Premier Division, which is just as well since they have taken no points from any of them this season.
Kilmarnock were waylaid by the competitive atmosphere that was created for Celtic by the referee and his linesman on the main stand side. In the current climate of suspicion, when Celtic supporters have an implicit belief in the existence of hostile officials, two decisions gave life to a game which had started in a sedate fashion.
After eight minutes, Paolo di Canio sent a deep cross to the far post and Pierre van Hooijdonk headed the ball back for Cadete to net from close range. But the header from the Portuguese was disallowed as David Hannah was adjudged to have impeded a Kilmarnock defender.
The crowd's rage was still evident when Van Hooijdonk was pulled up for offside as he went after a long ball from Tommy Boyd which would have given him a clear run-in on goal.
Barely containable anger turned to the serenity that followed two goals in three minutes for Celtic as Kilmarnock collapsed under pressure.
Gary Tallon, who had been restored to the side in the medical emergency created by a flu epidemic at Rugby Park, had the misfortune to be involved in both efforts.
The defender's mis-hit clearance dropped invitingly for Cadete and he beat Dragoje Lekovic from the kind of distance which strikers take as their preferred option.
Jackie McNamara's goal, his first of the season, was, however, breathtaking in its execution. Tallon delivered a weak clearance from the edge of the penalty box and the full-back returned it high into the top right-hand corner of the net from a distance of 25 yards.
Before the interval, Di Canio found time to be cautioned for an offence that was not immediately clear to the onlooker.
Kilmarnock were denied access to the game in an attacking sense, being too busy trying to contain a rampant opposing side. Di Canio was, therefore, given the opportunity to indulge himself by going through a full repertoire of juggling tricks.
The killing of the game as a contest meant only intermittent excitement in front of Lekovic's goal and signs of a complacent approach from the home side.
It came almost as a surprise, therefore, when Cadete extended Celtic's lead in the 65th minute. Hannah and Van Hooijdonk carried out the leading-up work, but when Cadete took his first touch inside the area it seemed as if he had knocked the ball too far in front of himself to retrieve his mistake.
The forward still managed to overtake Kevin McGowne, the last defender, and squeeze the ball beyond Lekovic.
Morten Wieghorst, who replaced Phil O'Donnell once the game had been placed beyond all reasonable doubt, scored the belated goal which has become his forte since joining Celtic.
There were 11 minutes left when McNamara swept the ball over from the right-hand side of the field and the Dane adroitly turned it beyond a despairing goalkeeper.
Chris Hay, another substitute, got Celtic's fifth goal when he dispossessed the luckless McGowne and easily beat Lekovic .
Cadete completed his hat-trick in the final minute with another piece of opportunism which fully justified the Portuguese striker's award as Man of the Match and took his tally to 23 goals in only 26 appearances for Celtic.
Afterwards, Cadete said: "When we were five goals in front, I told the rest of the players to keep going because I wanted the team to create a new, record win over Kilmarnock in the Premier Division.
"I believe it is still possible to catch Rangers in the championship. If I did not have that belief I would ask the manager if I could go on holiday."
- Manager Interview
Tommy Burns, post match:
"It took him three or four games to get back to full sharpness after his time out with injury.
"Now he is playing like the player we know he is and I'm very pleased about that as he knows he has a job to do.
"And Di Canio's discipline is back on an even keel after being sent off earlier in the season and as a player I've never seen his likes before.
"He has a fantastic appetite for the game and I'm very happy with the overall performance against Kilmarnock
"The boys were determined and worked hard for each other so over the last couple of games they were getting back to their old ways of going forward, creating chances and scoring them.
"We did ourselves a favour as far as goal difference goes but the most important thing is that we won the match.
"The back four cleared their lines and Malky MacKay in particular did very well with Jackie McNamara's goal spectacular.
"The midfield three worked very well in a good team performance with Phil O'Donnell putting ina hard shift and David Hannah fitting in well again.
"He is not called upon very often so, like O'Donnell, you have to watch and see what he does.
"He is involved in a lot of supporting and running and puts in a lot of work from box to box so he is very difficult to play against."