Rodgers may recall Gordon for City clash
De Vries is hooked as Killie are hit for six
CELTIC boss Brendan Rodgers last night insisted he would have no hesitation in handing Craig Gordon a Champions League recall against Manchester City.
The Scotland international made his first league appearance in over a month yesterday, emerging as a half-time substitute after Dorus de Vries had sustained what Rodgers said was a chest injury attempting to save the Kilmarnock goal in a 6-1 victory for the league leaders.
The manager revealed he was unsure whether De Vries would be fit for selection in midweek and admitted the Dutchman’s role in the concession of Souleymane Coulibaly’s 35-yard goal was open to question.
On Gordon, who breezed through a quiet 45 minutes after the storm surrounding his contentious Betfred Cup tackle on Alloa’s Greig Spence in midweek, Rodgers was more emphatic.
‘Craig is more than capable,’ said Rodgers. ‘He’s a brilliant shot stopper, he’s improving his game with his feet. That’s a part of how I work, players have to work that way, no compromise, no choice, and he’s capable to come in.
‘Dorus strained his chest. He could have played on but we had Craig there fit and I didn’t want to take any risk with it. We will see how he is in the next couple of days.’
ON A day for returning favourites at Celtic Park it was debatable whether the sight of Craig Gordon or Leigh Griffiths climbing off the bench was most popular among the Celtic support.
Griffiths re-emerged after a four-week absence to net his customary goal but it was Gordon’s appearance as a half-time substitute that provided the major talking point at the end of a most emphatic victory.
Dorus de Vries has been favoured by his old Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers, ostensibly on account of his superior distribution. Yet if the Dutchman is better than Gordon at handling a back-pass — and even that remains open to debate — he has shown little to suggest he has the shot-stopping skills necessary for a team that will spend much of the Champions League group stage on the back foot.
Hit for seven on night one in the Nou Camp, the 35-year-old was beaten by a raking long-distance effort from Kilmarnock’s Souleymane Coulibaly. Rodgers’ official explanation for the keeper’s half-time withdrawal was that he had injured his chest in attempting to keep the ball out.
But with Manchester City, complete with Sergio Aguero, due in Glasgow on Wednesday he perhaps viewed it prudent to give Gordon some valuable minutes ahead of what is shaping to be a big selection call.
Asked if he would apportion blame to De Vries for Killie’s spectacular opener, he responded: ‘It is a bit of both. At the time I thought to get beat from that range, I would need to see it again.
‘I watched it two or three times there and I give the credit to the player. It was an incredible touch, turn and the technique was great. When a goalkeeper gets beat from that range there’s always a question mark but I give applause to the kid because it was a great goal.’
Griffiths can expect to play a part in midweek, but most likely from the bench as Moussa Dembele underscored his credentials as first-choice pick in attack with a quick-fire double that turned the game on its head.
There is also likely to be a recall for the rested Kolo Toure at centre-half. Under Ronny Deila, Celtic spent in the region of a combined £5million to secure Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko, but this was actually the first time the pair have started together.
The long-term absence of Simunovic has been responsible for the pair’s failure to strike up a rapport but, after the breakdown of a proposed summer transfer to Torino, the Croatian finds himself back in favour.
There was concern, however, within the first minute as he toiled to keep up with none other than Kris Boyd, a man hardly renowned for his pace.
There was a period of intense dominance from Celtic before the surprise ice-breaker with Dembele, Scott Sinclair, James Forrest, Scott Brown and Tom Rogic all missing by varying degrees.
After half an hour of one-way traffic, no-one could have seen the opener coming. Coulibaly caught De Vries cold for sure. There was nothing on when the former Peterborough man received a pass in front of the Celtic dugout but he made space for himself quite beautifully with a drag and a flick that took him bounding clear of Brown.
Perhaps spotting the keeper off his line, the Ivorian decided to hit a shot to nothing and his swerving, dipping effort sailed quite miraculously through the air and over the Dutchman’s head.
Could De Vries have done better? Probably, although it seems churlish to demean Coulibaly’s goal by apportioning blame. Either way, the league-leaders’ worrying trend of conceding in each of this season’s league game continued.
Dembele was sharp as a tack on both occasions, wrapping his boot around Mikael Lustig’s low cross for the first and then slamming home a powerful finish after a surging Brown run released the excellent Kieran Tierney for the cut-back.
The sight of Gordon hovering on the touchline at the break drew cheers from the home supporters and the mood further improved with the swift arrival of the third goal.
Forrest has made a habit of jabbing the ball home with the outside of his foot this season, and he grabbed his fifth of the campaign in similar style, ending a weaving run that included a neat one-two with Rogic by prodding the ball low past Jamie MacDonald.
The two-goal cushion made the substitution of Dembele a much simpler call for Rodgers and the Frenchman had barely put his tracksuit top on when his replacement came up with a goal of his own.
A routine set-piece did the trick for Griffiths, Sinclair’s corner being headed on by Simunovic, allowing the striker to score from a yard out.
His goal in the bag, Griffiths could afford to be generous in deferring to Sinclair after being caught by Greg Taylor just inside the box. Having become the first man since Jimmy McGrory to net in his first five league games for the club last weekend, Sinclair moved to within two games of equalling the club legend’s total by rolling home the spot-kick.
‘Leigh giving me the ball was great,’ said Sinclair afterwards.
‘It goes to show the togetherness in the team. He was on the pens but he gave it to me to get to six in six, and I have to thank him for that.’
MacDonald looked to be coming out in sympathy with De Vries at the sixth. Rogic’s general play had merited a goal. There was little power in the Australian’s effort but it squirmed through the Killie No1’s gloves to complete a squeamish afternoon for the goalkeeper’s union.