Kilmarnock 3 - 3 Celtic: Celtic rescue point, and Lennon

Trailing 3-0 to Kilmarnock at half-time, Neil Lennon was deep in the kind of territory where the position of an Old Firm boss becomes untenable. Comparisons with the 4-0 capitulation at St Mirren which did for his predecessor Tony Mowbray were being made, the record books dusted down to search for Killie’s record margin of victory over Celtic.

A remarkable burst of three goals in seven minutes dramatically altered the context of the match, allowing Lennon to take some succour from his team’s fighting spirit, if not the quality of their performance. It still represents another stumble in the title race for Celtic, who have dropped eight points from their past four games, but this could have been so much worse for the manager.

Lennon might have been spared his half-time agony had Anthony Stokes, with the match still goalless, not perpetrated one of the most wretched misses of the season in the 12th minute. James Forrest threaded a pass inside Kilmarnock left-back Rory McKeown which allowed Cha Du Ri to make an overlapping run to the byeline. The South Korean’s low cross picked out the unmarked Stokes at the back post, little more than a couple of yards out from an open goal.

While the ball took a bobble before he struck it, it was still an extraordinary miss from the Irish striker as he blazed the ball over the crossbar.

In truth, it would have been harsh on Killie had they gone behind. From the opening exchanges, they were the more fluent side, passing the ball accurately and showing intelligent movement off the ball. Celtic, by contrast, were uncertain in possession and had the appearance of a team shorn of confidence and conviction.

Their defensive frailties also show no sign of being addressed. The first sign of the trouble coming their way was in the 24th minute when Manuel Pascali, completely unattended as he got on the end of a clever free-kick worked between Dean Shiels and Gary Harkins, wastefully screwed his volley wildly off target.

But Celtic were unable to make the most of that reprieve as they fell behind just two minutes later. A crossfield pass from Danny Buijs found Paul Heffernan on the left of the Celtic penalty area. He had all the time he needed to cut the ball back to Shiels, who placed a firm left-foot shot low beyond Fraser Forster.

The Celtic goalkeeper made a fine save to touch Liam Kelly’s long-range shot onto a post but was beaten again five minutes before the interval when left unprotected by his back four. Heffernan looked marginally offside when he tapped in Shiels’ low cross from the left but the space afforded to both players would have been the biggest concern for Lennon.

His team looked in utter disarray on the stroke of half-time when Charlie Mulgrew’s loose passback was seized upon by James Fowler who displayed great composure with a precise lob over Forster. Celtic were fortunate not to end the first period a man down, Beram Kayal escaping a second caution for a late foul on Alex Pursehouse. The Israeli was one of Celtic’s poorest contributors and it was no surprise when he failed to reappear for the second half.

He was replaced by Victor Wanyama, while Lennon also sent Mohamed Bangura on for Gary Hooper who seemed to sustain an ankle injury early in the match. There were no immediate signs of the comeback Celtic eventually conjured up, Kilmarnock appearing comfortable with their lead and just as likely to add to it as the visitors were to reduce their arrears.

But just as all hope seemed to have drained away for Celtic, they were given a foothold in the contest with 17 minutes remaining. Mo Sissoko’s clumsy foul on Forrest presented a free-kick opportunity which Stokes made the most of, smashing the ball right-footed over the wall and high beyond Anssi Jaakkola’s right hand.

Although Heffernan came very close to making it 4-1 for Kilmarnock two minutes later, flashing a shot wide of Forster’s left-hand post, Celtic had the scent of salvation in their nostrils. Stokes collected a pass from Ki Sung Yueng and beat Jaakkola low to the Finnish goalkeeper’s right with a fine 22-yard shot.

Kilmarnock’s earlier composure suddenly evaporated and there was almost a sense of inevitability about Celtic’s equaliser. Ki’s free-kick was knocked back across the six-yard box by Daniel Majstorovic for Mulgrew to head home from close range.

Anyone betting in play on a winner at that stage would have surely gone for Celtic but it was Kilmarnock who should have snatched it two minutes from time, Heffernan rivalling Stokes’ first-half profligacy when he headed over from around four yards out.