Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic paid his own fitting tribute to the late Billy McNeill by heading in the winner against Kilmarnock at Parkhead.
In was an emotional day following the death of the man who captained the side that won the European Cup in 1967 and later went on to manage the club.
3
Jozo Simunovic of Celtic scores his team’s first goal
Despite being mostly on the back foot Killie arguably had the better chances before the break while Celtic had numerous and mostly inaccurate efforts on goal.
However, Simunovic – wearing the number five so closely associated with McNeill – headed in a Callum McGregor cross with 67 minutes showing on the clock to give the hosts a 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win.
With three fixtures remaining, Celtic moved 12 points ahead of second-placed Rangers – and they could secure an eighth successive title as early as Sunday if their Old Firm rivals slip up at home against Aberdeen.
Interim boss Neil Lennon, who along with skipper Scott Brown had laid a wreath at McNeill’s statue outside the stadium before the game, made two changes with midfielder Tom Rogic and winger Scott Sinclair coming in for Olivier Ntcham and Jonny Hayes.
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
Injury and suspension meant Killie boss Steve Clarke had to field a makeshift central defence of on-loan veteran Alex Bruce and midfielder Gary Dicker.
On-loan midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu was not allowed to play against his parent club while Aaron Tshibola, Conor McAleny and Liam Millar were handed starts.
There was as an appropriate 67-second round of applause in McNeill’s honour before the game and when the action got under way Celtic, wearing black armbands with number five on them, looked most likely to make the breakthrough.
Brown, Emilio Izaguirre, Odsonne Edouard and Rogic all had efforts on goal of varying quality.
However, in the 14th minute there was a Killie penalty claim when Brown challenged defender Stephen O’Donnell inside the box but referee Willie Collum waved play on.
Four minutes later the Ayrshire side had a great chance when former Rangers winger Chris Burke found himself clean through on goal after the break of the ball but Hoops goalkeeper Scott Bain made a crucial block.
3
The Hoops paid tribute to McNeill before the game
Bain then had to make good saves from Millar and McAleny as Killie grew in confidence.
In the 27th minute, Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer gifted Eamonn Brophy possession but made a fine recovery tackle as the Rugby Park attacker took too long to get his shot away.
It was another let off for the home side but Killie still had plenty of defending to do before reaching half-time goalless.
More attempts on goal by both sides followed early in the second half, most notably when Bain had to stretch to tip Burke’s curling effort from 20 yards over the bar after Hoops defender Mikael Lustig had passed straight to him.
3
It was a tightly fought affair at Celtic Park
Amid increasing Hoops frustration, Edouard curled a shot wide, Killie keeper Danny Bachmann made a great save from McGregor and O’Donnell stopped Edouard getting on the end of Rogic’s pass.
However, that frustration was replaced with joy when Simunovic leapt to head McGregor’s past the flailing Bachman.
The game stretched further as the visitors threw men forward in search of the equaliser – but perhaps the match was destined to be decided by Celtic’s number five.
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock: Jozo Simunovic's second-half header
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and other members of the Avengers superhero team on Monday celebrated the final chapt
Celtic 5 Kilmarnock 1 RECAP: Brendan Rodgers' side run
boost The striker was given the all clear to stop wearing the boot earlier this week and is growing increasingly confident of making it for England's UEFA Nations League exploits in June Harry Kane could reportedly recover from his ankle injury in time to make the Champions League final - should Tottenham advance past Ajax.…
Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock: Leigh Griffiths and Co left frustrated
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock: Jozo Simunovic's second-half header sees Hoops edge past Killie to go 12 points clear Celtic edged one step closer to being crowned Scottish champions with a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock in an emotional day at Celtic Park. In a day where everyone talkSPORT 7 hours ago Also reported by •BBC Sport
Tottenham news: Harry Kane out of protective boot and COULD
The opening goal was a bullet header from Charlie from a Kris Commons corner with less than 7 minutes on the clock. Mulgrew could have added a second three minutes later when he combined with Commons on the edge of the area before trying to clip the ball past Cammy Bell in the Kilmarnock goal but on this occasion his attempt went wide.
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock: Jozo Simunovic's second-half header sees Hoops edge past Killie to go 12 points clear. Celtic moved 12 points ahead of second-placed Rangers - and they could secure
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock: Jozo Simunovic's second-half header
Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock: Jozo Simunovic's second-half header sees Hoops edge past Killie to go 12 points clear
Jozo Simunovic #5 News, Stats, Photos - Celtic - Football
Latest Jozo Simunovic #5 news, stats, photos and videos on MSN Sport
Celtic star Jozo Simunovic on the honour of wearing Billy
Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock: Leigh Griffiths and Co left frustrated as Hoops preserve six-point lead at the top with stalemate Dedryck Boyata was denied a late winner when his effort hit the crossbar
Celtic 3 Kilmarnock 1 - The Scottish Sun
Brendan Rodgers finally got the better of Steve Clarke as Celtic roared back to the top of the Premiership. Kilmarnock had been unbeaten against Celtic under Clarke - but his team got a doing at
Kilmarnock 0-6 Celtic - celticquicknews.co.uk
The Hoops No11 stretched to connect but couldn't direct his header on target as Killie escaped. Celtic continued to hog the ball and probe for openings but the visitors kept a good shape and got
Hollywood celebrates the finale of the 'Avengers' movies
No comments:
Post a Comment