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Kilmarnock 1 Celtic 5: Champions spoil Rugby Park's long-awaited homecoming Neil McCann’s side have now conceded nine goals in their opening two Premiership matches Kilmarnock’s long-awaited return to grass at Rugby Park ended in sobering fashion as Celtic ran riot to record a 5-1 victory. Kasper Høgh helped himself to the first hat-trick of his Celtic career before Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan completed the scoring for the away side. Michael Schjønning-Larsen grabbed a second-half consolation after the visitors had already raced into a four-goal lead. Neil McCann’s side have now conceded nine goals in their opening two Premiership matches, leaving plenty of questions to answer ahead of Friday night’s Premier Sports Cup last-16 tie against Ayr United. It was a long afternoon for everyone associated with the club. The only saving grace is that there is little time to dwell on it, with the Ayrshire derby just days away. Things can only get better... can’t they? Here’s our reaction to the main talking points... Northern Carpets & Beds are a locally run bed & carpet showroom offering very competitive prices and exceptional service to the whole of Ayrshire & beyond. We are proud to back the Chronicle and look forward to seeing fellow Killie fans soon in store or on our website! At sixes and sevens There were always going to be question marks over Kilmarnock’s defence after last week’s collapse in Perth. Neil McCann responded by recalling Jamie Brandon to the backline after his first-half introduction for Tyreece John-Jules against St Johnstone, while Johnly Yfeko was handed his first start alongside George Stanger in central defence, with Schjønning-Larsen continuing at left-back. The new-look defence needed a period to settle and build an understanding. Celtic afforded them no such luxury. With barely a minute on the clock, Kasper Høgh had his first goal for the away side. Poor defending at the back post allowed the striker to steal in unmarked and head into an empty net after Max Stryjek was left stranded beneath the cross. It proved an ominous warning. To Killie’s credit, they recovered from the early setback and enjoyed a spell that probably should have yielded an equaliser. But every turnover left them alarmingly exposed, with Celtic repeatedly finding space to break at pace and run directly at the home defence. Høgh duly punished them again, completing a first-half hat-trick with two more goals in quick succession to leave Neil McCann’s men facing an almost impossible task by the interval. The afternoon inevitably raises fresh questions about the balance of the backline. With a newly assembled defence still developing partnerships, there is likely to be debate over whether the experience and leadership of Mark O’Hara might have provided greater stability against a Celtic side expected to mop up yet another Premiership title. Gung-ho For any gamblers out there, a safe bet before kick-off appeared to be both teams to score and, sorry, a Celtic win. Unfortunately for the Rugby Park faithful, that came in all too comfortably. Conceding inside the opening minute left the hosts with little option but to take the game to the champions. In truth, though, McCann’s side were unlikely to have approached it any differently. For around half an hour after Høgh’s opener, Killie actually gave as good as they got. There were some encouraging passages of play, with Greg Kiltie and Tom Lowery at the heart of most things, and on another day, they could easily have found themselves back on level terms. The problem was that every time Killie committed bodies forward, they left acres of space for Celtic to exploit. Against the champions, that is a dangerous game to play. If you fail to take your chances while leaving the back door wide open, there is an air of inevitability that Celtic will punish you - and they did, time and time again. In a desperate search for positives, Kiltie and Lowery once again stood out. Both built on their performances from Perth, never once hiding despite the scoreline and remaining central to almost everything good the home side produced. Lowery deservedly grabbed an assist for Schjønning-Larsen’s consolation, while Kiltie continued to demand the ball long after many others appeared to be running on empty. Even at 4-0 down, McCann wasn’t asking his side to protect the scoreline. Schjønning-Larsen’s consolation came with the left-back once again occupying an advanced position inside the Celtic box. It perfectly illustrated the manager’s unwavering commitment to his attacking philosophy. Whether that proves to be bravery or naivety is a debate that will only be answered over the coming weeks. Max Stryjek The goalkeeper was one of the key reasons Killie tightened up defensively towards the end of last season, his commanding presence and vocal nature bringing much-needed authority to the backline. But after conceding nine across the opening two Premiership fixtures, both he and the defence have been brought crashing back down to earth. There were already questions after last week’s defeat in Perth over whether Stryjek could have done better with one or two of the goals conceded. This afternoon, he will undoubtedly feel he should have done better again, particularly for Celtic’s fourth, gifting possession straight to Benjamin Nygren with a misplaced pass before the Swede made no mistake from 12 yards. Yet, much like Kilmarnock as a whole, there were glimpses of quality mixed in with the errors. His outstanding double-save midway through the first half kept the score at 1-0 and briefly gave the hosts hope, while he produced a number of other solid stops throughout the afternoon. That summed up their day. There were spells where they looked capable of competing with the Glasgow giants in the first-half, but every lapse in concentration and every mistake was ruthlessly punished. Stryjek was no different. He showed why he has become such an important player for Neil McCann, but also how unforgiving football can be for a goalkeeper. An outfield player might get away with a misplaced pass or poor decision; a goalkeeper rarely does. Homecoming Well, the day finally arrived. After more than a decade, grass returned to Rugby Park. You have to cast your mind all the way back to May 2014 for the last Premiership fixture on a natural surface in KA1, when Kris Boyd nipped in at the back post to convert an Alexei Eremenko cross and seal a 1-0 victory over St Mirren. Twelve years on, an entire generation of players and supporters has known Rugby Park only as an artificial surface. The club dubbed today “Homecoming” and, regardless of the result, that felt fitting. Rugby Park simply looked like Rugby Park again. It has been a long wait. Joe Hugill’s double that secured Premiership survival back in May feels a lifetime ago, while the temporary move to Beechwood Park for the opening weeks of the season only heightened the anticipation of finally returning home. The new surface looked every bit the part. Unfortunately for Kilmarnock, its first major test came against the reigning champions. There has long been a lazy narrative that Kilmarnock’s strong home record against Celtic and Rangers was built solely on the artificial pitch. Those around the club have always known that was never the full story, and one difficult afternoon on grass does nothing to change that. The focus now shifts immediately to Friday night’s Ayrshire derby against Ayr United. Following today’s sobering afternoon, Neil McCann needs a reaction from his players – and quickly. It is still early in the season, but after successive damaging defeats, this has already become a game his side simply cannot afford to lose. Here is what the manager had to say post-match… Is it difficult to sum that up? Do you get angry? “No, I’m just disappointed. It’s a heavy defeat we’ve got. I’m taking responsibility. I’ve asked us to go a wee bit open and expansive and try and play. “We’ve made mistakes that were severely punished. So yeah, I’m going to take that. The boys tried to play today. “Of course, there needs to be an element of risk assessment when we’re asking them to play in that way. I’m going to take that one on the chin today. “But I have to say, I felt - it sounds daft now that I’m sitting on the back of a hiding - I felt for the first part of the game we were the better side. “We were forcing things. Celtic playing on the counter-attack are always going to be dangerous because of how we’re playing. A wee bit of quality just evaded us in the final third. “And then they got the second goal. We responded after the first goal, then they scored the second goal, third goal. “Then at half-time, again, it’s the job to regroup and set the task for the second half, and we conceded another one. “For the fourth goal, I don’t think we had to play from Max {Stryjek}. He’s apologised but, to be honest, he’s tried to play and it’s a big mistake that’s been punished again. “So we’ve got a massive game on Friday. I’m not a guy who takes a step backwards. I’ll front up. That’s on me today.” On the defensive problems “We’ve conceded five goals today and it could have been a few more. “We’re trying to stitch things together. It’s early in the season, there’s a few new boys in there that are trying to understand how we want to play. That comes with risk. “Clearly the defensive return in the last two games has not been great. Are there any positives you can take? “I don’t think right now any fan would appreciate me talking about positives, so I’ll look at it after I do the media duties. “But the only thing I can say as a coach is that we’ll be better come Friday night. It’s another game under our belt. We’ll go and look at it and we’ll prepare for Ayr United.” Is the Ayrshire derby on Friday the ideal game to bounce back? “Any game, any game is good to get going. “If you look right through world football, any team that’s taken a heavy defeat, one of those questions is, ‘Is this the ideal game coming next?’ Any game is ideal to get back onto the pitch - it’s the only thing you can do. “Professional sport is hard. We’ve been dealt a very heavy defeat today, but the boys worked. They made mistakes, yes, but I’m going to take responsibility on that one today because I asked them to play in a certain manner, they did it, and unfortunately we lost.” On Robbie Deas returning “Yeah, Robbie’s back from suspension. I’m pleased about that. “I have to say, this ridiculous nature of yellow cards going into new seasons in any league is a disgrace. I mean, it’s a joke. “I see the point if it’s a red card and it’s going into one or two games and it misses into a new season, but an accumulation of bookings that doesn’t carry on in a cup competition, why does it carry on in a league competition? It doesn’t make any sense. “But Robbie’s sat out the first two games, and he’ll join back in with the group for Friday night.”