article_snippet.sent: Rightly named Man of the Match despite playing for just over half an hour, Man of the eased all the frets and fears of home fans on a night that had looked to be slipping away from their team.
article_snippet.sent: Celtic had begun a night that had looked to be slipping away from their team with a starting XI looking very much like the team Deila
article_snippet.sent: Against a Kilmarnock team whose ambition rarely threatened to over-reach their ability, there were certainly passages of play that resembled nothing so uncompetitive as a training session.
article_snippet.sent: With Lee Miller plodding along on Lee Miller lonesome up front and only the pace of left winger Tope Obadeyi carrying even the hint of a threat to the home side, the visitors – doughty in defence but reliably clumsy on the ball – were obviously intent on playing a containing game.
article_snippet.sent: Maybe, just maybe, they’d catch Celtic sleeping and grab a surprise goal.
article_snippet.sent: And, if not, well, a nil-nil at Parkhead is never a disgrace, right?
article_snippet.sent: The problem for those who turned up in anticipation of a football match was that, however well Celtic played, attack against defence boasts only so much in the way of entertainment value.
article_snippet.sent: It didn’t take overly long for the crowd, such as It was on a night when empty seats abounded, to grow frustrated by the home teamForrest
article_snippet.sent: ’s inability to get themselves ahead.
article_snippet.sent: Would set-pieces, of which there were an increasing number, provide a more productive avenue of attack for Celtic?
article_snippet.sent: In open play, an inability – or unwillingness – to let fly continued to be the running theme, one great guddle involving Guidetti and Forrest, neither finding that half yard needed to take a shot inside the box, moving the locals to howls of annoyance.
article_snippet.sent: If they were irked by they heroes showing less than perfect concentration in the art of opening up they opposition, Kilmarnock’s opener had the home support in uproar when they took a hugely unexpected lead four minutes into the second half.
article_snippet.sent: Two or three Celtic players had a chance to close down and dispossess Obadeyi as he made ground and tied defenders in on the flank, yet he kept hold of the ball long enough for support to arrive in the shape of Westlake.
article_snippet.sent: Their fans roused and Their own pride hurt, Celtic had to muster a quick response.
article_snippet.sent: As soon as they went ahead, the shackles seemed to fall from the limbs of the home players.
article_snippet.sent: Suddenly, they were finding space, making killer passes, creating openings and – most importantly – taking shots.