The sun shone over Celtic Park, but the stars on the pitch couldn't match its brilliance. Celtic started very brightly and some good work by Hartson down the right produced a fine cross. Sutton's cushioned header inside the box fell perfectly for Moravcik, whose shot was saved by Marshall.
Bobby Petta had returned for Celts with Larsson and Lennon rested and Thompson left out. Tebily came in for Baldé and played at the left of a 3 man defence, while Kharine replaced Douglas. A lot of Celtic moves started up the left, but Tebily always turned inside on to his left and was frequently unable to release Petta. Petta had a quiet return, only showing flashes of his best form.
Another chance fell to Mjallby after a cross ball was knocked down by the head of Sutton. The big man managed a shot on target, but it was held by Marshall. Our main man in the first half was Moravcik who himself had a couple of other strikes at goal. One went wide, while the other was saved by the keeper.
Kilmarnock had little to offer in attack and in the whole game had one long range shot on target which posed no problems for Kharine. Apart from that there was perhaps one dangerous cross that our defence had to deal with.
By the end of the first half, the crowd were unhappy. The team seemed to be playing in second gear, with Petrov and Hartson contributing little.
It was the antics of the Kilmarnock players that livened up the second half. They persisted in time-wasting at every opportunity and eventually the ref started issuing yellow cards like there was no tomorrow. Gordon Marshall somehow escaped a card despite excessive time-wasting at every goal-kick.
Bobby Petta managed to get himself a silly booking. He had been tackled rather robustly and had claimed a foul. The referee didn't give anything, so the bold Bobby took a lunge at his opponent. Lubomir Moravcik also showed his temper. On one occasion he was fouled just outside the box, but managed to keep his footing and the ball and stumble into the box where he fell. He was none too chuffed when the ref refused to bring back the play for a foul. Later he was hacked down outside box. The ref called for the trainer so Lubo had to go off and was unable to take the free kick, much to his annoyance.
It so happened that Chris Sutton rolled the free kick to Petrov, whose shot came off a charging defender and hit the bar. Shortly afterwards, a Lubo attempt was to hit the bar. Tebily was replaced by Lennon and Lambert moved further back. All of sudden Celtic began to look more threatening.
The yellow cards mounted and the game rolled on. Then the "I'll have to catch a train" brigade started to leave. The ref added 5 minutes of injury time. Petrov was fouled and from the free kick the ball was knocked across goal. Mjallby and Valgaeren were in the box and a slight touch by the big Swede give Joos an easy tap in. Celtic were one up and Kilmarnock had got what they deserved.
CELTIC (3-5-2): Kharine; Tebily (Lennon 62), Valgaeren, Mjallby; Petta, Petrov, Lambert, Moravcik, Agathe; Sutton, Hartson (Maloney 81).
Subs: Gould, McNamara, Crainey.
KILMARNOCK (3-5-2): Marshall; Innes, Sanjuan, McGowne; Baker, Mitchell, Mahood, Pizzo (Fowler 75), Canero; Vareille (Di Giacomo 84), Dargo.
Subs: Meldrum, Hay, Calderon.
REFEREE: David Somers
Man of the Match: Lubo Moravcik.