Celtic slump to league ‘defeat’ at Kilmarnock

GLASGOW, Feb 3, (AFP): Celtic slumped to their second league defeat of the season as Youssouf Mulumbu’s strike secured Kilmarnock a shock 1-0 win over the Scottish champions at Rugby Park on Saturday.

The Congolese midfielder struck in the 70th minute to help the home side end a 16-game winless run against the Glasgow giants, whose only previous domestic defeat under Brendan Rodgers came in December against Hearts.

The Hoops enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but failed to register a shot on target until the final minute, with their gameplan disrupted by first-half injuries to defenders Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer.

It is Kilmarnock’s first win over the Hoops since October 2012 and comes just a month after they recorded a 2-1 win over Celtic’s Old Firm rivals Rangers at the same venue.

The signs looked ominous for Kilmarnock early on as Celtic, who handed a debut to deadline-day signing Jack Hendry in defence, dominated possession, zipping the ball around

Mulumbu

the artificial Rugby Park surface.

However, Celtic’s flow was severely disrupted by injuries to two of their three centre-halves within the first 30 minutes. Boyata was first to limp off to be replaced by Nir Bitton after going down awkwardly after blocking a cross from Eamonn Brophy.

Kilmarnock looked to immediately take advantage of Celtic’s defensive disruption, with Kirk Broadfoot getting above Scott Brown in the box to send a header just over.

The Hoops looked to have regained their composure but Ajer was then forced off with an ankle injury after landing heavily following an aerial contest with Brophy.

Killie sensed an opportunity and registered the game’s first strike on target in the 38th minute. Dorus de Vries failed to hold Jordan Jones’s effort and the ball then found its way to Greg Taylor, who drilled his shot into the side netting.

The home side continued to flourish as the game headed towards the break, with De Vries doing better to hold a snatch shot from former Rangers striker Kris Boyd.

The openings began to come for Celtic at the start of the second half.