Kilmarnock have not won at Celtic Park since 1955, nor at any
time against the Hoops in their last 15 meetings, so there was an
inevitable air of confidence among the home support about the outcome
before the kick-off.
Most of the interest was centred on the performance of
debutant Steven Pressley, whose first touch, a punt up the park after a
minute, was cheered by the home fans.
The champions took time to awake from their slumber but in the
12th minute Riordan played Craig Beattie in with a clever reverse pass
at the edge of the Killie penalty area.
However, the Celtic striker, making his first SPL start of the
season, snatched at his shot from 14 yards and the ball went wide.
The lethargy enveloping the home side's performance refused to
give way to dynamism and consequently the first half hobbled along.
In the 35th minute, however, the Rugby Park side missed the
best chance of the half when they broke four against two in a
counter-attack.
Gary Wales drove at the back-tracking Pressley before
slipping the ball to Rhian Dodds but the Killie player fired past the
far post with only Artur Boruc to beat.
The
Rugby Park side were made to pay for that miss four minutes later when
they fell behind to a O'Dea goal.
Nakamura's free-kick from the right found Jarosik but his
header was blocked by a crowd of bodies only to fall to the young
Irishman who slammed the ball into the net from close range.
In the 50th minute Kilmarnock may have grabbed an equaliser
if the unmarked Gary Wales had shown some more conviction attacking
Hay's cross from the left, rather than flicking his header from 12 yards
past the far post.
Moments later Celtic defender Lee Naylor picked up a loose
header from Hay 30 yards from goal and his left-footed drive whistled
inches past Smith's right-hand post. It was an encouraging piece of
action.
And in the 58th minute there was another moment of excitement
when Riordan picked up a Pressley pass, turned onto his right foot and
sent a shot from 25 yards crashing off the Killie crossbar before Gordon
Greer eventually cleared to safety.
Minutes later the hapless Beattie missed two chances to grab
Celtic's second; his drive from the edge of the box being blocked by
Wright before he miskicked all alone in front of goal after Smith had
parried Maciej Zurawski's drive from distance right to his feet.
Then,
as tensions rose, Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies was sent to the stand
by referee Steve Conroy at the behest of his fourth official Alan Boyd
after prolonging complaints at an earlier decision.
The home side had a lucky escape in the 74th minute when
Frazer Wright's header from a Peter Leven free-kick cannoned off the
crossbar and wide, a warning for the Parkhead faithful who were already
banking on the three points.
Then, with three minutes to go Jarosik hit the post with a
header after being set up by Nakamura and then Vennegoor of Hesselink
also hit woodwork.
But in the last minute substitute Aiden McGeady, on for
Riordan, picked up a Nakamura pass and slipped the ball past Smith to
seal the victory and start 2007 in encouraging style. Better
performances may have to wait for another day.
