Kilmarnock vs Celtic: Player Ratings

Celtic dropped their first points of the season, after just two games, with a frustrating draw against the stubborn Kilmarnock.

The hoops got off to the perfect start, as Ryan Christie opened the scoring after just 10 minutes. A cynical foul by Killie captain, Gary Dicker on Odsonne Edouard looked to give Christie an excellent chance to whip a cross into the box.

However, Christie had other ideas hitting a powerful effort towards goal and into the back of the net. It certainly looked like an effort, new Kilmarnock goalkeeper Danny Rodgers could have done better with, as Christie’s free-kick came from a fair distance out.

From there, Celtic looked to be easing themselves into the game and becoming more confident on the ball.

The home side were able to get, back level on terms in the game though after 24 minutes due to some poor defending by Christopher Jullien, giving away a penalty.

What looked to be a hopeless ball over was chased down well, and played wide towards Nicke Kabamba. The striker, who looked to be causing problems for Jullien early on, looked to be cornered this time, with nowhere to go. A neat piece of play, saw him lift the ball around the corner, which then caused Jullien to pull him to the deck.

It was stupid stuff from the Frenchman, who had a torrid time in this half.  Chris Burke stepped up and slotted the ball home into the corner, giving Vasilis Barkas no chance and losing the clean sheet on his debut.

From then, it was a bit of a non-event. The Hoops struggled to create any chances of note, having the majority of the possession but being reduced to very little opportunities and long-range efforts.

Neil Lennon did try to change things up, going to his preferred 3-5-2 formation and bringing on Oliver Ntcham with 10 minutes to go but it was too little too late.

For all that Celtic were poor and failed to create, Kilmarnock deserve credit for how they shut out the hoops, throwing their body’s in front of every cross and opportunity, they had.

Player Ratings

Vasilis Barkas- 6

It was good to see the Greek keeper make his debut for the club after much speculation around the goalkeeping position for many months.

Barkas looked to be imposing in the box, catching several long-balls and crosses that came his way. He also looked composed and capable of playing football when needed.

Was left with no chance, after a good penalty from Burke. An unfortunate start to his Celtic career will still need to see a bit more of him to judge fully.

Jeremie Frimpong- 5

The fullback wasn’t in the game as much this week as he was last. Was kept quiet for a lot of it but did look to try and keep his width.

Didn’t use his pace enough to take on defenders, but mostly was surrounded by 2-3 players whenever he had possession.

Was replaced by Hatem Elhamed after 66 minutes. Would personally have liked to see him stay on when we switched to the 3-5-2.

Christopher Jullien- 3

This was far from the best performance we have and will see from the Frenchman. Jullien was very poor, in particular the first half.

Nicke Kabamba was able to get the better of him time after time, using his physicality and strength. This seems to be becoming a bit of trend for him with the likes of Kabamba and Lyndon Dykes.

Didn’t have much to do in the second half in terms of defending and even ended upfront towards the end trying to grab a goal.

Kristoffer Ajer- 5

The big defender didn’t have much influence on the game. Looked to deal with Kabamba in a much better fashion than Jullien but at times made some poor decisions.

Didn’t do enough on the ball today. Usually reliable when galivanting forward, to create space but didn’t do enough of it today but may have been due to how congested the middle of the park was.

Greg Taylor- 5

Had an okay start to the game, putting in a few decent crosses but after that, his deliveries went pretty downhill. May have been due to having little numbers in the box but some just not good enough.

At times showed flashes of how he can beat a man with a few smart turns but simply didn’t do it enough when it came to key areas of the pitches. Also looked okay defensively, was left outnumbered on several occasions.

Needs to improve a few sides of his game if he wants to be a regular started in Neil Lennon’s side, come the end of the window.

Scott Brown- 4

This was a poor showing from the captain today. He didn’t have much impact on the games like he can do.

Gave away a few silly fouls but did try to keep things ticking over when he could, on the ball in the middle of the park.

Had a bit of a poor start to the season so far, but in no way should he be written off entirely.

Callum McGregor- 5

Didn’t do too much wrong today, on what was a frustrating afternoon. The area that McGregor usually occupies was very congested and struggled to create much for the attackers.

Did well to try and spread the play wide, but ultimately there wasn’t enough width for the entire game.

Had a few efforts on goal, with one just sailing over the bar. Was probably the best chance we had in the second half. Think that says it all.

Ryan Christie- 5

Got the game off to a brilliant start with a powerful long-range free-kick which found its way into the back off the net.

Tried to look busy and pressure defenders as he usually does but couldn’t do much on that sense as Killie looked tidy enough on the ball.

Lost possession on a few occasions but did well the majority of the time to try win the ball back.

James Forrest- 4

Went missing for a lot of today’s game. Didn’t offer much going forward with some poor touches and crosses into the box.

Didn’t keep the width enough and tried to come infield several times.

Went to right wing-back with the change of formation, but the move didn’t change much.

Mohamed Elyounoussi- 4

Another player who was missing for a lot of the game. This score might be harsh, but just didn’t feel there was enough from his performance today.

Lennon switched him from out wide left to a more central role, but couldn’t get involved in the play.

On his day a great player and looked to have a good pre-season but hasn’t kicked on as of yet. It is still early days though.

Odsonne Edouard- 5

This was undoubtedly an unusually quiet day at the office for Edouard. I wouldn’t say that he was terrible today, just didn’t get much service.

Came deep to try and get involved more but just meant there were no numbers in the box to cross to.

At the end, the players were probably relying on a bit of Edouard magic, but unfortunately, that didn’t come today.

Substitutes

Hatem Abd Elhamed-4

Came on as Neil Lennon looked to change things up a bit with the 3-5-2. Looked solid enough, winning back possession a few times and putting his pace to good use.

Couldn’t make too much of a difference to the game. A fit Elhamed is undoubtedly someone who is useful to this squad being able to play at both right-backs and in central defence.

Patryk Klimala- 3

The Polish striker grabbed his first league goal for the club late on, last week but couldn’t do the same today.

Didn’t get a chance to get into the game, with Celtic creating very little for the attacking players. Look to latch onto a cross near the end but couldn’t quite get there.

Oliver Ntcham- 4

The French midfielder was only given 10 minutes in the game, but he definitely didn’t do himself any harm.

He looked to get on the ball and spread the play. Possibly should have been given more minutes in the game to have more of an influence. Should have a good chance on starting on Wednesday night.

Boli Bolingoli- 2

Was introduced to the game with just three minutes to play.

Brought on to try and bring more width down the left-hand side and get crosses into the box. A few of which ended up in poor areas or in the keeper’s hands. Again, not given much chance to change the game.