Celtic’s dropped more points in the race for the title this afternoon with a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock this afternoon.
In a nervy affair, Brendan Rodgers’ side failed to hold onto a 1-0 lead as David Watson’s 92nd-minute equaliser cancelled out Kyogo Furuhashi’s 31st-minute opener.
Anthony Ralston‘s inch-perfect cross from the right-hand side found the Japanese and the 29-year-old neatly headed home the only goal of the game but it was to no avail as Derek McInnes’ side snatched yet more points from Celtic this season.
And whilst the draw sees Celtic go one point clear at the top of the table, the supporters will be irate at yet another insipid performance and scoreline, which wasn’t exactly what the supporters expected this afternoon.
So with that in mind, here are the three biggest talking points we took away from the game today…
Joe Hart saves Celtic’s Parkhead blushes
The veteran Celtic keeper spared Celtic’s blushes on a number of occasions this afternoon. Two excellent saves in the first half kept Celtic ahead at the break as Kilmarnock threatened the Parkhead goal.
In the second half Celtic continued to huff and puff and Hart was once again called upon midway through the second period as Killie poked and probed the Hoops’ defence from a set piece.
However, there was nothing the 36-year-old could do as Watson powered home a late equaliser after threatening for periods during the second half.
Overall, it was a very good performance from Hart but a disappointing afternoon overall for the Hoops.
Luis Palma hooked at half-time as the Celtic winger struggled
The Honduran didn’t have his best 45 minutes for Celtic as he was hooked at half-time by Brendan Rodgers.
Within the first 20 minutes, Palma had given possession away and looked weak in his duels as he came off second best to the Kilmarnock defenders on two separate occasions.
Palma also seemed to be lacking in confidence as he seemed reluctant to take on his man on that left flank.
What summed up Palma’s afternoon was when he failed to capitalise on an excellently worked opening by Adam Idah that put Palma through on goal and instead of squaring an easy ball for the waiting Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furhashi, the 23-year-old went for glory and spurned a golden opportunity to give Celtic an early lead.
Overall, a disappointing outing for the winger who has flattered to deceive of late.
Celtic continue to make life difficult at the top of the table
Despite having the lion’s share of the possession, Celtic still struggled to finish off a Kilmarnock team that exposed the Hoops’ inability to kill teams off.
If not for Joe Hart, Celtic could have found themselves in real trouble as the veteran ‘keeper made two great saves in either half.
Brendan Rodgers deployed the same system as he did at St Mirren last weekend and it did work well but the lack of cutting-edge and failure to see off teams early will be a cause for concern for the Celtic manager.
The Celtic manager made some changes 70 minutes into the second half to bolster his midfield as Kilmarnock started to come back into the game.
However, Celtic couldn’t hold on to the lead and have now handed Rangers a huge advantage as they now know that a win at St Johnstone tomorrow will take them to the top of the league.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers told he must drop ‘mad’ 23-year-old Celtic player to win the league
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