Celtic cruised past Kilmarnock 4-0 at Celtic Park to kick off their defence of the Scottish Premiership in style.
Reo Hatate opened the scoring for Celtic in the 17th minute with a wonderful strike just outside the Kilmarnock box, marking what has been the Japanese midfielder’s favourite type of goal at the club.
Liam Scales would then add to the Hoops’ lead just before half-time in the 40th minute with a header from a corner.
Scales, who often makes a run to the front post during corners, took advantage of a lapse in concentration from the Kilmarnock defence to head the ball off the post and past Robby McCrorie.
Celtic continued where they left off in the second half, thanks to a well-worked run from Nicolas Kuhn in the 59th minute.
The German winger cut in from the right wing and took a shot on goal, which took a slight deflection off Lewis Mayo and past McCrorie in goal.
🔥 “An opening day statement of intent from the champions of Scotland”
Nicolas Kühn’s deflected shot makes it 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VPPH0jjtQD
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 4, 2024
However, Kuhn will rightly be awarded the goal, as he would have scored even without the deflection.
Celtic will feel they should have been awarded a penalty late in the game after Kyogo Furuhashi went down in the box following a collision with Kilmarnock goalkeeper Robby McCrorie.
However, after a VAR review, the game continued, adding to the confusion surrounding VAR in Scottish football.
Anthony Ralston capped off the win with an impressive fourth goal after Robby McCrorie parried a Kyogo effort, ending the game in style and marking a great start to the 2024/25 season.
