SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Kilmarnock 1 Celtic 0ROBBIE KEANE'S Celtic debut went spectacularly awry as Tony Mowbray's reign hit a new low with the club's first defeat to Kilmarnock in 32 meetings.
On-loan Tottenham striker Keane missed two golden opportunities to score in either half and he was upstaged shortly after the break by Chris Maguire, who celebrated his own debut with a fine winner for Killie last night.
The result leaves Celtic 10 points behind Rangers in the Premier League, but now having played the same number of games, while also giving their opponents’ survival hopes a massive shot in the arm.
The outcome was eerily similar to Roy Keane’s Celtic debut, which ended in a Scottish Cup shock at Clyde. Namesake Robbie – who was treated to a hero’s welcome by thousands of delirious Hoops fans after signing last night – was joined in Celtic’s starting XI by fellow new boy Diomansy Kamara, while the fit-again Glenn Loovens and Lee Naylor were recalled.
Killie – who had lost 29 and drew only two of their previous 31 games with the Hoops – handed Meath man Tim Clancy a first appearance since September as well as unveiling Maguire.
Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cameron Bell admitted afterwards he was as surprised as anyone by the result. “Everyone talked about Robbie Keane, but we were confident to get something out of the game,” said man of the match Bell. “Obviously, we’re at home. But it was a wee bit of a surprise to get a clean sheet and a 1-0 result really.”
Killie boss Jimmy Calderwood was thrilled. “It’s fabulous. They’ve had a hard time of it this season. It was a wonderful game tonight with the right result. Celtic started really well. Robbie was running the show and you got the feeling the script was written for them. But we hung on and we started to play a wee bit, started causing them a few problems.”
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray was pleased with what he saw of Keane. “He gives us a different dimension,” he said last night. “He’s a high-quality footballer. You saw that tonight in flashes. He’ll be better for the game, I’m sure, and getting to know his new team-mates.
“We’re trying to put a team together that can be successful long term. There were flashes tonight but it didn’t run for us.”
Mowbray was making no excuses for his side’s lack of cutting edge up front. “There’s no excuse. For a lot of the game we were in the ascendancy. We had enough of the ball, got into decent areas and we didn’t manage to score. Goals change games and we didn’t manage to score them.”
In the only other Premier League tie played in Scotland yesterday, Colin Healy’s superb strike lifted Falkirk off the bottom of the table as Aberdeen gave a lacklustre display at Pittodrie.
The Irishman smashed the ball into the top corner after 31 minutes to give Falkirk a deserved victory over Aberdeen, who offered little in attack.
KILMARNOCK: Bell, Clancy (Kiernan 73), Ford, Pascali, Hay, Hamill, Bryson, Taouil (Sammon 62), Kelly, Maguire (Severin 80), Kyle. Subs not used: Robinson, Fowler, Invincibile, Old.
CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel (Caddis 31), Loovens, Hooiveld (Thompson 54), Naylor (Brown 74), Kamara, Ki, N'Guemo, McGeady, Fortune, Keane. Subs not used: Zaluska, Samaras, Rasmussen, Zhi. Booked: McGeady, N'Guemo.
Referee: M Tumilty (Scotland).
