Celtic players rated after ugly Kilmarnock win as defender gets 8/10

Celtic limped to a narrow 1-0 win over strugglers Kilmarnock at home on Sunday thanks to Liam Scales' first-half goal.

Kilmarnock came close within minutes of kick-off, forcing a double save out of Sam Johnstone, but the finishing was poor. Celtic thought they had made the visitors pay for those missed chances when Kasper Hogh finished off a well-worked move, but VAR spotted a foul from Mika Baur in the build-up.

The breakthrough arrived in the 25th minute, when Camilo Durán dug out a brilliant cross to find Scales' outstretched leg, and the defender diverted the ball up and over Killie goalkeeper Nico Mantl.

Celtic dominated the ball in the second half and missed a penalty when Benjamin Nygren was denied by Matl. Mika Baur also had a goal chalked off for offside but he was safely off by a mile.

Kilmarnock had one cross flash across goal in stoppage time but did not regularly scare their hosts, who limped through to a win.

Here we rate the Celtic players.

Profuced a good double save in the first few minutes, but it was straight at him on both counts. Johnstone didn't have a lot to do other than that, but we'll give him a seven because it was an important double stop, even if they weren't complex saves.

Solid enough defensively. Probably not as involved as he would like to have been going forward here.

Error-free and dependable.

Provided a big block in the first 10 minutes. Scored with an outstretched leg in the 25th minute.

Got forward on repeat. No real errors. The early chance came down his side, but it was the lapse of concentration in the midfield that allowed the overlap.

Controlled things in midfield and was regularly on the ball. One of his better games.

Lost his man for the big double Kilmarnock chance in the first few minutes. Busy as ever and looked after the ball. Baur limped off with five minutes to go.

Showed endeavour, but little came off for him, in truth. He also saw a penalty saved before being replaced.

It was great to see him starting a game, but Jota didn't have a great outing here. He managed to break away once but was hacked down. Aside from that, he didn't manage to offer a great deal.

Provided a delicious cross with zero backlift for the opener. Gets a score bump for that but wasn't as productive as usual here.

Thought he had scored in the first half but it was chalked off for a foul in he build-up. Showed some signs of increased confidence by taking on some shots. Hogh gets a respectable score here. He was unlucky to not score on a couple of occasions.

Substitutes

Added much more than Jota on this occasion. Tricky and dangerous on the ball throughout the second half.

Looked after the ball well enough. Didn't offer too much.

Good enough, nothing of note to report.

Much the same, just brought on for the injured Baur to see the game out.

Same as the above.