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Just to remind you that it was real!!!!

Kilmarnock 1 – 0 Celtic

Robbie Keane’s Celtic debut ended in disappointment as Kilmarnock recorded their first win at home against the Glasgow side in nine years.

On-loan Aberdeen striker Chris Maguire opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half after Mehdi Taouil played a neat cutback.

Celtic’s new signing Keane was denied by a series of Cammy Bell saves.

Killie denied a string of late chances and claimed three points against Celtic for the first time in 25 outings.

Keane, who made his first start under Celtic manager Tony Mowbray, was joined in the starting 11 by Diomansy Kamara, while the fit-again Glenn Loovens and Lee Naylor were recalled and Scott Brown featured on the bench following his prolonged ankle injury.

Killie handed a debut to new loan signing Chris Maguire, while Tim Clancy made his first appearance since September.

After seven minutes of intense pressure from Celtic, Ki Sung Yong blasted in a powerful free-kick from 25 yards out that Killie keeper Bell turned around the post.

A few minutes later, Liam Kelly tested the Celtic keeper Artur Boruc with a shot from distance that the Polish stopper almost fumbled.
Tony Mowbray
Tony Mowbray’s side failed to find the net against Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock seemed unfazed by the early Celtic pressure, although Garry Hay was forced to clear a Kamara header off the line in the 21st minute.

The on-loan Senegal striker then blasted in a driving right-footed shot from the edge of the box two minutes later that inched past Bell’s left-hand post.

Keane’s first attempt on goal arrived on the half-hour mark, but the Republic of Ireland captain curved the ball towards the outside of the post and Bell helped it out for a corner.

Four minutes later, the on-loan Spurs striker tried his luck with a lob but missed the target then was kept out by Bell with a fine double-save from close range.

Following the break, Kamara sent a glancing header looping over the bar, but the home side broke the deadlock with seven minutes of the second half played when Taouil played a neat cutback inside the Celtic penalty area and Maguire buried the ball past Boruc.

Kilmarnock continued to pile on the pressure and Celtic showed signs of strain, with Aiden McGeady and Landry N’Guemo soon finding their names in the referee’s book for a sequence of harsh challenges.

Shortly after the hour mark, Marc-Antoine Fortune pivoted on the six-yard line and made for the Killie goal with Bell making the block, denying the Frenchman the chance to equalise.

Fortune flighted in an inch-perfect cross from the right-hand side that Keane latched on to and fired goal-bound, but Bell came to the rescue and Celtic remained frustrated.

With less than 20 minutes of the match remaining, Conor Sammon squandered an opportunity to set up Kevin Kyle when he blundered a cross-field pass to the big striker and a rare second-half Killie attack fizzled out.

Loovens was unlucky not to reach the target for Celtic with a header from Ki’s corner moments later.

The South Korean midfielder volleyed in from a clearance as the minutes ticked away, but his shot shaved the left-hand post.

Jamie Hamill brought out the best in Boruc in the final five minutes as Killie pressed to finish the game, but the Celtic keeper was up to the challenge.

Keane tested Bell at the other end 60 seconds later and seemed certain to score, but the Killie keeper pulled off a fantastic save with his feet.

Substitute Brown leapt above the Killie defence to nod in from six yards, but again Bell was on-hand to deny and Kilmarnock held out for all three points.

Kilmarnock manager Jimmy Calderwood:
“It’s been a long time and it was wonderful.

“Celtic started strongly and Robbie Keane was causing us all sorts of problems and we never really got into the game.

“But we changed it and got a grip on it, but they’re so dangerous on the counter-attack.

“Our keeper made a couple of great saves and we didn’t make Artur Boruc work too hard, but we got the goal, which was vital and we hung on to win the game.

“I told my players they were playing against a good side and you need to get the breaks, and we’re lucky enough that that’s how it worked out.

“Cammy Bell was fabulous. Sometimes you feel the script is written, but we changed the script.”

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray:
“It’s not the result we wanted. We needed to hit the ground running with the new signings, but it didn’t quite happen tonight.

“We didn’t put the ball in the net. We had enough of the ball in their final third, but we didn’t put the ball way and they defended really well.

“But that’s football – we had enough opportunities to win the game, we didn’t take them and we lost the game ultimately.

“But you take it on the chin and move on.

“We have a game at the weekend and we keep going.

“We’re trying to build a team that can win football matches week in week out and be successful both domestically and in Europe.

“We have enough talent on the pitch to do that.”