Kilmarnock 1-5 Celtic: Høgh hat-trick continues Hoops’ perfect start | OneFootball

Celtic turned on the style at Rugby Park this afternoon, picking up a 5-1 win over Kilmarnock to continue their perfect start to the league campaign.

A first-half hat-trick from Summer signing Kasper Høgh saw Celtic cruising at the break, before Benjamin Nygren netted the fourth in the opening moments of the second half, after capitalising on a poor pass from the Kilmarnock goalkeeper. Kilmarnock managed to pull one back through Michael Schjønning-Larsen in the 55th minute; however, it proved to be merely a consolation, as Luke McCowan netted Celtic’s fifth of the day 20 minutes later.

Celtic now move top of the table following an emphatic win.

As it happened

Shaun Maloney took charge of Celtic for this one, due to Martin O’Neill’s absence; he named an unchanged side following their 1-0 win over Dundee on Monday night. Meanwhile, Neil McCann made two changes after Killie suffered a disappointing 4-3 loss to St. Johnstone in the opening weekend. Those changes saw former Rangers man Johnly Yfeko and Jamie Brandon replace Ethan Schilte-Brown and Nickly Clescenco.

Høgh netted the opener for Celtic after just 64 seconds, heading home his first for the club and silencing critics after his missed chances against Dundee on Monday night. Kilmarnock nearly got themselves an immediate leveller, but Aaron Tshibola’s effort was blocked on the line by Auston Trusty.

Greg Kiltie came close to equalising in the 10th minute, but saw his curling effort deflected behind for a corner. The set-piece caused chaos in the area with Joe Hugill flicking the ball narrowly wide. Maksymilian Stryjek made his first save of the day shortly after, to palm away Aren Engels’ long-range strike.

The Hoops squandered a hat-trick of chances to double their lead before the 20th minute: Nygren’s volley was pushed onto the post, Høgh saw his header superbly saved, and Kieran Tierney’s fierce rebounding effort was blocked. Tierney was denied again minutes later, when Stryjek made another strong save.

Joe Hugill was shown the first yellow card of the match in the 25th minute after pulling down Engels on the edge of the area. Tierney delivered the resultant free-kick into the area, but Celtic couldn’t make the opportunity count.

Celtic got their much-needed second goal just after the half-hour mark, when Høgh doubled his tally for the afternoon by stroking the ball into the bottom corner. Two quickly became three as Høgh completed his hat-trick with a diving header at the back post. The half-time whistle blew as Celtic maintained their 3-0 lead going into the break.

The Hoops made one change at the break, which saw Alistair Johnston replaced by Colby Donavon.

The visitors picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, when Nygren pounced on a calamitous error from Stryjek and fired into the top corner in front of the travelling Celtic fans. Camilo Durán was next up to take aim at the Killie goal, but his left-footed effort clipped the crossbar.

Høgh sent a ferocious volley goalwards in the 52nd minute, but Yfeko headed it off the line to deny the Dane his fourth of the match. Kilmarnock got one back before the hour mark through Schjønning-Larsen, who picked out the far corner with a satisfying finish.

Durán then made way for Sebastian Tounekti as Celtic made their second change with little over an hour played.Høgh continued to be Celtic’s key threat, as he struck the post with 20 minutes left to play.

Both sides made a double change in the 73rd minute, as Nygren and Hyun-Jun Yang made way for Celtic’s James Forrest and McCowan, whilst Bailey Rice and Mark O’Hara replaced Schjønning-Larsen and Tyreece John-Jules for the hosts.

McCowan made an immediate impact, hooking the ball into the side netting to score Celtic’s fifth of the day with his first touch. Høgh was withdrawn in the game’s closing stages to a standing ovation from the away end after a stunning performance; he was subsequently replaced by Callum Osmand.

Forrest came close to adding a sixth for Celtic, but his volley flashed wide of the far post. Three minutes of additional time passed both sides by, meaning Celtic confirmed a strong 5-1 win at Rugby Park.