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Celtic team:-
Boruc, Hinkel (Riordan 18), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Sno 89), Scott Brown, Donati, Hartley, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Killen 17).
Subs Not Used:- Mark Brown, Zurawski, O’Dea, Conroy.
Booked:- McDonald.
Scorers:- Corrigan 64 og.
Kilmarnock team:-
Combe, Fowler, Frazer Wright, Ford, Hay, Hamill, Corrigan, Bryson (Gibson 80), Taouil, Invincibile (Fernandez 88), Di Giacomo.
Subs Not Used:- Harpur, Johnston, Morgan, O’Leary, Clancy.
Booked:- Di Giacomo, Gibson, Hamill.
Att: 56,618
Ref: M McCurry
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Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock
By Clive Lindsay
Celtic’s Chris Killen as Martyn Corrigan can’t believe his luck
Martyn Corrigan’s own goal settled the game
Celtic moved to within a point of Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers thanks to an own goal from Kilmarnock’s Martyn Corrigan in Glasgow.
Alan Combe was the Kilmarnock hero, the goalkeeper producing a series of fine saves to deny Scott McDonald and substitute Derek Riordan.
Claims for a penalty when McDonald went down were waved away after the break.
But Corrigan deflected a wayward Scott Brown drive into the net on 64 minutes for a fortunate but deserved win.
Interview: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
Interview: Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies
Paul Hartley had come into the reigning champions’ midfield in place of the suspended Aiden McGeady.
Kilmarnock’s suspended top scorer, Colin Nish, was replaced with Mehdi Taouil, who went on to produce a classy display in midfield.
Defender Frazer Wright returned from suspension to take over from Tim Clancy, while Craig Bryson came in for Gary Locke.
Both sides threatened in the early stages, although Combe was the first goalkeeper to be called into action, diving to turn a Scott McDonald drive round the post.
But Celtic suffered a double injury blow, with Chris Killen and Riordan coming on as replacements after 17 minutes.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was withdrawn with blood streaming from a headwound after a clash of heads, while Andreas Hinkel came off with what looked like a hamstring problem.
Combe came to Killie’s rescue again, blocking a volley at point-blank range after his defence allowed a cross to reach McDonald.
A fine Shunsuke Nakamura cross found Brown breaking into the box, but the midfielder’s glancing header flew a couple of yards wide.
James Fowler with Celtic’s Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
Celtic’s Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink came off early with a cut head
Garry Hay did well to block at the front post after a low Killen cross found McDonald.
Celtic were now in total control and Combe did superbly to tip the ball over the top following a deft chip by Riordan.
When Combe failed to hold the subsequent corner, the ball was cleared off the Killie line after a goalmouth melee.
Combe followed that with a superb, one-handed save after Riordan had broken forward before firing a powerful drive from just outside the penalty box.
McDonald was first to threaten after the break but headed straight at Combe from a Nakamura corner.
The Australian striker was booked for complaining when he was denied a penalty after being sandwiched between two Killie defenders.
Kilmarnock looked to have weathered the storm until Brown’s 20-yard drive was turned into his own net by Corrigan.
Killen sent a 20-yard drive just over as Celtic looked to consolidate.
Lee Naylor’s last-ditch tackle prevented Paul Di Giacomo having a late opportunity in front of goal to equalise, but Celtic held on comfortably.
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel (Riordan 18), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Sno 89), Scott Brown, Donati, Hartley, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Killen 17).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Zurawski, O’Dea, Conroy.
Booked: McDonald.
Goals: Corrigan 64 og.
Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler, Frazer Wright, Ford, Hay, Hamill, Corrigan, Bryson (Gibson 80), Taouil, Invincibile (Fernandez 88), Di Giacomo.
Subs Not Used: Harpur, Johnston, Morgan, O’Leary, Clancy.
Booked: Di Giacomo, Gibson, Hamill.
Att: 56,618
Ref: M McCurry
Own goal settles victory
heraldscotland staff
19 Jan 2008
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock
DESPITE losing Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and new signing Andreas Hinkel through injury after only 18 minutes, Celtic maintained their rhythm to close the gap on Rangers to one point at the top of the Premier League. It took an own goal from Martyn Corrigan to secure the points, but Celtic fully deserved the win.
As Gordon Strachan wryly pointed out, goalkeeper Artur Boruc could have spent the game standing beside him. Killie were hard working and well organised, but presented little threat. Celtic, on the other hand, resembled the Boeing 777 that crash landed at Heathrow – all power until near the goal, when the final thrust failed them.
Vennegoor of Hesselink is believed to have burst a blood vessel in his forehead following a clash with Simon Ford, while Hinkel, signed for £2 million from Seville, has a thigh strain. Strachan was unable to say if either will be fit for next week’s game against Falkirk.
“I thought we played really well,” said the Celtic manager. “To make that number of chances was more than we could have expected, and it was possibly the most we’ve had all season. On a good day we’d have scored lots.”
There was also a fourth successive clean sheet for the champions, and Jim Jefferies admitted: “When we threatened to get in behind them, the quality wasn’t good enough from wide positions.
“Celtic had three or four really good chances but Alan Combe was brilliant. How he’s not in the Scotland set up I don’t know.”
With top scorer Colin Nish suspended, and nobody else having scored more than three, the prospects of Boruc being unduly troubled looked remote. This certainly seemed to be how Hinkel viewed it, spending most of his 17 minutes on the pitch nearer the Killie penalty box than around his own.
There were then good opportunities for Scott McDonald and Massimo Donati before Strachan’s plans for the afternoon were unexpectedly disrupted. His Dutch striker had earlier left the field following his clash of heads, but when the board also went up to indicate Derek Riordan was coming on for Hinkel, who had shown no signs of being in distress, Celtic were forced to improvise.
Paul Hartley switched to right back, with Riordan taking his place on the left flank. But although all this was a bonus for the visitors, Hartley’s versatility ensured there was little inconvenience to Strachan’s side.
If anything, the outlet of Riorden gave Celtic another option and they maintained a relentless surge towards Alan Combe in the Kilmarnock goal. A Shunsuke Nakamura free kick somehow threaded its way through to McDonald, forcing Combe to make a desperate block. He then parried a 30-yard shot from Killen, having in between been relieved to witness Scott Brown just fail to get his head to a driving Nakamura cross.
At this point, despite playing with two up front, there was little to indicate Killie had any other ambition other than to escape to Ayrshire with a repeat of the 0-0 draw in the opening game of the season.
That they managed to get to half-time without conceeding was almost entirely down to Combe. The goalkeeper had to be sharp in the 27th minute when McDonald got in front of Ford to meet a low Killen cross from the left; Combe got a touch on the ball to turn it round for a corner.
However, he faced a problem of a different nature six minutes later when Riordan, showing a confidence which belied all the time he has spent on the bench this season, delivered a beautifully judged chip which the Kilmarnock custodian only just managed to tip over the bar.
Riordan, whose name has been linked with Burnley, again made a point when he ran 40 yards with the ball before unleashing a shot which Combe again did well to palm over the bar. Yet again, it looked as if the visitors were enjoying a charmed afternoon at Parkhead.
The same pattern continued on in the second half. Three times in quick succession Nakamura set McDonald up with chances, and twice Combe again came to Killie’s rescue with the third effort just slipping a whisker past his post.
Then McDonald went down in the box claiming to be the meat in the middle of a Killie sandwich, but referee Mike McCurry waved play on before subsequently booking the striker for his persistent protests.
Having kept Celtic at bay for some 150 minutes in the two matches on their home patch, Corrigan’s own goal, when it arrived in the 63rd minute, punctured any hopes Jefferies’ side were entertaining of denying the champions a win. Scott Brown’s shot looked to be going well wide, but Corrigan, who joined the club earlier this month, stuck out a leg and watched aghast as the ball nestled in his own net.
The goal always looked like it was going to settle the outcome, even if it spurred Killie into their most adventurous phase of the match. Boruc remained untroubled and the last real action of the match was a Riordan shot over the bar after, yet again, Nakamura had set up the chance.
Celtic substitutions: Riordan for Hinkel 18, Killen for Vennegoor of Hesselink 18, Sno for Nakamura 89 Not used: M Brown, Zurawski, O’Dea, Conroy Booked: McDonald 55 Kilmarnock substitutions: Gibson for Bryson 79, Fernandez for Invincibile 88 Not used: Harpur, Johnston, Morgan, O’Leary, Clancy Booked: Di Giacomo 57 Referee: M McCurry Att: 56,618