Killie embarrass Celtic

Celtic passed up the chance to move within two points of Rangers after losing 2-0 at Kilmarnock last night. A goal in each half from Paul Wright and Alex Burke gave the Rugby Park side, ninth of out 10 in the Scottish Premier Division, a surprise win.

Celtic almost went behind in the seventh minute but their goalkeeper Stewart Kerr made a fine save from Burke. The visitors responded, and two minutes later Peter Grant saw his chip beat Kilmarnock's goalkeeper Colin Meldrum but bounce back off the crossbar.

Kilmarnock's first goal came in the 24th minute from a superb free kick from Wright. Their top scorer swerved his effort high above the wall and into the top corner for his 13th goal of the season.

Jorge Cadete went close to an equaliser in the 32nd minute when his header from a corner hit the crossbar.

Kilmarnock thought they had established a 2-0 lead in the 58th minute when Burke squeezed a header beyond Kerr but Enrico Annoni hacked the ball clear. Kilmarnock claimed it had gone over but the referee's assistant dismissed their appeals.

Twenty minutes later they did have a second goal when John Henry's shot was saved and Burke followed up to fire the ball home from 12 yards.