Manager pleased as Celtic return to action with a win

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Celtic F.C.

·14 settembre 2025

Manager pleased as Celtic return to action with a win

Celtic returned to action after the international break and the Hoops continued their good start to the Premiership season with a 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

The victory saw Brendan Rodgers’ side return to the top of the table, ahead of Hearts on goal difference, although it took a last-gasp penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho on his debut to give Celtic all three points.

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And speaking to Celtic TV after the game, the manager explained that he was pleased with the win.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “It’s been a long two weeks, so to get back out on to the football field – and this is always a tough game here – I’m so pleased for the players.

“We weren’t quite in the right fluidity in the first-half. We got into some good areas but we weren’t feeding the wide guys well enough. But I thought in the second half we were much better.

“We started the half really well, got in front and we had control of the game and had other good chances. They made some really good blocks.

“At 1-0 it can always be in the balance, no matter how much dominance you have and we got punished from a corner and then they had a wee bit of momentum then with not so long to go.

“But we stuck at it, we defended the box when he had to, we were really strong and had that Celtic spirit, which was to keep going right to the very end, and that gives us the little bit of chaos which creates the penalty.

“And I’m delighted for Kels (Kelechi Iheanacho) because he’s a player who really feeds off confidence and love of coaches and supporters, and that goal will be very important for him.”

The Nigerian internationalist joined Celtic at the end of the transfer window and came on for the last 20 minutes of the game at Rugby Park for his debut.

And he stepped up to convert the winning penalty with almost the last kick of the game.

“The last penalty I remember him scoring for me was at Wembley when we beat Manchester City in the Community Shield final,” explained Brendan Rodgers, “and he showed great composure to score that day, and he scored again today, so I’m really pleased for him.

'Like I said, he’ll thrive off the support here and the love that they’ll show him when he performs and it’s nice for his confidence.'

There was also another impressive debut as Sebastian Tounekti made his first appearance for Celtic, and the Tunisian internationalist was superb throughout the match down the left flank.

Describing his as a classic ‘Celtic winger, Brendan Rodgers said: “He’s good in the one-v-one, he wants to take people on, he’s aggressive, he works hard and he was unbelievable today.

“And that was a little bit of what I said at half-time, we had to feed him more because you could see early on that he’s going to be the match winner. He’s got speed and he can run in behind, and I was so pleased for him.

“It’s worth mentioning Colby Donovan as well, a young player who has come through the system at Celtic and to make his first start – that’s never easy playing with that pressure but he coped really well.

“I’m really pleased for him because it’s a big thing for a young kid to come through here and I thought he did really well, especially in the second half when he settled in to the game.”