Callum McGregor Names Three Celts Who Had ‘Big performances’ vs Kilmarnock

Celtic captain Callum McGregor thinks the Hoops showed another side to their Game against Kilmarnock on Sunday and that the victory differed from their usual domestic performances.

Indeed, the hosts piled the pressure on the Bhoys and peppered Kasper Schmeichel’s goal throughout the match: Killie had 18 shots, six of which were on target, per FotMob.

The Scottish Premiership champions, however, stood firm and worked their way to a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from McGregor and, unsurprisingly, the in-form Nicolas Kuhn.

The skipper, who opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time with a cross-come-shot, thinks he and his teaMMAtes showed another side to their Game in Sunday’s win.

He said [RecordSport]: “You go from Champions League on a Tuesday night, and obviously everyone’s buzzing, the intensity of the football is there, and then you’re going to go there and be asked to play on a tough pitch, the game’s going to be sticky.

“You’ve got to stand up and be counted, and I thought the players did that really, really well. So, another feather in the cap, and showing that we can be resilient defensively.”

As Brendan Rodgers alluded to after the Game, if things had unfolded as they did at Rugby Park on Sunday a year ago, Celtic would have likely lost the match.

The Hoops have improved dramatically over the past 12 months. This season, whether against Atalanta, RB Leipzig, or Kilmarnock, they have shown they have multiple strings to their bow.

Rodgers’ side were relatively clinical in front of goal when they got their chances on Sunday, although McGregor thinks the standout performers were at the back.

Indeed, the captain named trio Schmeichel, Liam Scales, and Auston Trusty as key to the victory: “There were some big performances from the back guys,” he said.

“Kasper Schmeichel and the two centre-backs especially. We showed another side to ourselves on Sunday, and that’s always positive as well, because you’ll have difficult moments throughout the season. I think so anyway.

“Obviously we build up a team based on the football aspect, and trying to control the game, but we know the league’s a physical league, and there’ll be times where you’ve got to do that.

“There’s certain venues you go throughout the season and you’ve got to be defensively resilient, so we’ve managed to show that again, and that’s another positive for the group.”