Scottish Premiership: Celtic held at Kilmarnock in 1-1 draw as Alfredo Morelos fires Rangers to 3-0 victory over St Mirren

Scottish Premiership results

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• Rangers 3-0 St. Mirren
• Kilmarnock 1-1 Celtic

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Celtic held at Kilmarnock

Chris Burke’s penalty gave Kilmarnock a precious Premiership point against below-par Celtic at the BBSP Stadium, Rugby Park.

Midfielder Ryan Christie opened the scoring for the champions with a free-kick from distance after 10 minutes but Killie’s veteran winger levelled in the 24th minute from a spot-kick conceded by the unconvincing defender Christopher Jullien.

Neil Lennon’s side stepped up the tempo after the break but all the huffing and puffing came to nothing against a disciplined, well-organised Killie team who defended as if their lives depended on it.

There is still a long way to go but dropping two points in the second league fixture of the campaign will irk the Hoops boss and the Celtic fans as they look this season to make it 10 successive title wins.

• Celtic to face Icelandic side in Champions League qualifying

Goals

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• Neil Lennon

The Celtic manager refused to pin the blame on errant defender Christopher Jullien after the French centre-back clumsily fouled Nicke Kabamba inside the box to concede a penalty.

Lennon said: “I think he’s rusty and he is a slow burner. He was the same this time last year.

“So the more games he gets the better he becomes. He is disappointed but that is not the reason we dropped two points today. We weren’t good enough in the final third with all the play we had.

“I’m frustrated. We got off to a good start and gave away a poor goal from our point of view. We dominated the second half and didn’t find the answer.

“Kilmarnock defended well and our final ball wasn’t great and we will have to work on that.

“Lots to work on and get better on. I know what we have with these players and it may be a good point at the end of the day.”

Asked about injured striker Leigh Griffiths, reportedly warned over his conduct after holding a gathering at his house which appeared to breach social distancing guidelines, Lennon said: “The club are doing an ongoing investigation.

“I am not convinced it is a big issue and hopefully it will be resolved in the next couple of days. He is not fit, he had a calf strain so he would have missed the game anyway.”

• Alex Dyer

The Killie boss hailed a “great performance” and insisted that Nicke Kabamba, who signed from Hartlepool in January, personified his side.

Dyer said: “He has been outstanding since he came to this football club. He gives 100 per cent and the boys believe in him.

“They know what he can do and he showed it today against two good defenders so let’s hope it continues.

“He sums up what the football club is about, working hard, not giving up when you are cornered, show a little skill and he won himself a penalty.

“Great team effort and everyone to a man played well and deserved the point.

“We had a good shape, defensively we were good, they didn’t trouble us too much and they are a good side obviously but today we were compact, pressed when we had to and had a good discipline.”

Morelos breaks Premiership drought as Rangers ease to victory

Alfredo Morelos reaffirmed his commitment to the Rangers cause as he fired his first Scottish Premiership goals of 2020 in a 3-0 win over St Mirren at Ibrox.

Boss Steven Gerrard admitted the Lille target has had his “head turned” by interest from France following Gers’ Europa League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.

The striker was way off his best in Germany, continuing a slump that began with his Old Firm red card back in December.

But he looked more like his old self against the Buddies, firing in the cross which lured Conor McCarthy into a first-half own goal before adding a double after the break as he ended a drought which had seen him net just once in his previous 13 games.

Lille are reported to have failed with a fresh £16.25million bid just last week and while he could yet still be heading for the Ibrox exit, Gerrard – whose team now have two wins from two – will want him to retain these levels while he remains part of his squad.

St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin confessed earlier this week he was left deflated after seeing Rangers spend millions on strike-duo Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten this week.

Roofe was not involved, however, with the former Leeds and Anderlecht forward still short on fitness after eight months out injured, while Itten got only a late cameo.

But there was more than enough firepower in Rangers’ existing armoury to keep the Buddies busy.

Reaction

Steven Gerrard hailed Alfredo Morelos after revealing a pre-match pep talk sparked the Rangers striker back into life.

It was a much livelier display from the Colombian against the Buddies than he managed during Thursday’s Europa League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.

The 23-year-old laboured through the Bay Arena clash and showed little to justify the club’s £20million valuation.

Gerrard admitted after that display that the player’s head had been “turned” by interest from Lille, but he was fulsome in his praise after watching Morelos strike twice having also played a key role in Conor McCarthy’s first-half own goal.

“He certainly deserved the man of the match,” said the Rangers manager.

“I thought his focus was really strong. He got a good assist and two goals and I thought his all-round play deserved those numbers.

“We spoke to the whole group about Thursday’s performance and how the all-round performance had to be better.

“I did have a private chat with Alfredo about his own performance. He acknowledged the fact that he could have been better.

“But he wasn’t the only one. I think as a group we could have been better on Thursday night.

“There was no finger-pointing individually but I do speak to the players and get a feel for what they are feeling. Alfredo was well aware that he needed to perform a little bit better.

“He certainly showed a great reaction today, though. From the first whistle until the end, it was a really strong Morelos performance.”

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