Celtic turned in one of their best performances of the season with a fine 3-1 win at Kilmarnock, which was particularly impressive as it came just three days after the huge victory against Spartak Moscow.
Manager Neil Lennon made both personnel and formation changes today, with Ledley, Matthews and Lassad in for Kayal, Lustig and Commons. Intriguingly, the team played in a 3-5-2 system, which hasn’t been used at Celtic this season. After a relatively slow start the formation paid dividends, with the attacking play of Adam Matthews causing havoc and Brown and Ledley constantly bombing forward.
The opening goal came courtesy of one of Matthews’ rampaging runs, as he went on a run and then cut the ball back to the unmarked Scott Brown, who fired the ball home. Celtic’s second half performance was excellent, although Killie could have equalised via Paul Heffernan, but Charlie Mulgrew got the vital block in. The second goal came after good work from Brown who set up Ledley for his first SPL goal of the season. The third goal was even better, a 22 pass move finished off by a great Samaras header after another cross from Matthews. Shortly after Ambrose missed a free header to make it 4-0, and the only blot on Celtic’s copybook came when Cillian Sheridan fired in a consolation goal for Killie in injury time.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon can be delighted with the team’s performance, with the change in formation bringing Celtic’s midfielders much more into the game. Adam Matthews was terrific and it would be difficult for Lennon to leave out of the team for Wednesday’s trip to Arbroath. Lassad also played well, and Joe Ledley had his most influential game for a while. Scott Brown was also terrific, but it would make sense for him to be rested for the Arbroath trip. With Celtic now clear at the top of the SPL, let’s hope they keep the momentum going at Arbroath as the quest for the treble continues.
