Souleymane Coulibaly's top five goals in Scottish football
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Barring some YouTube clips, not much was known of the Ivory Coast striker, once dubbed ‘the next Didier Drogba’ because of his exploits at youth international level, when he arrived at Rugby Park.
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Hide AdSigned on a three-year deal, he soon began showing Killie fans his tremendous potential, scoring an array of eye-catching goals which, to this point, have helped Kilmarnock keep their heads above water in the Ladbrokes Premiership relegation battle.
However, for the fans such form comes at a cost, as they today learned of confirmation that the 22-year-old has completed a £750k move to Egyptian side Al Ahly.
As Coulibaly makes his exit, we look back over his short but memorable spell at Rugby Park and pick out his top five goals.
5. Clyde 1 Kilmarnock 2 (16 July, 2016)
Though he would miss several chances in the Betfred Cup win, Coulibaly still made a positive start to life in Scotland, expertly controlling a drilled Josh Magennis pass before back-heeling the ball beyond John Gibson in the Clyde goal. A simple but classy strike.
4. Berwick Rangers 2 Kilmarnock 3 (26 July, 2016)
Kilmarnock were heading for an embarrassing defeat to League Two Berwick when Coulibaly netted twice to tie the scores level at 2-2. Either goal could have been included, however I’ve gone for his first goal, which saw him run on to a bouncing ball 20 yards out and lash it first time into the corner of the net.
3. Kilmarnock 2 Hearts 0 (26 Oct, 2016)
The ridiculous thing about Coulibaly is that there are two tremendous goal which have been left off this list: his emphatic, curling strike from the corner of the penalty area against Hamilton Accies, and his goal at home to Inverness CT where he led his marker on a merry-dance before dispatching the ball in off the post. However, his goal against Hearts incorporates both of those qualities, so it gets the nod instead. He skins two Hearts defenders before curling a sumptuous left-footed finish into the far corner to open the scoring.
2. Dundee 1 Kilmarnock 1 (10 Sept, 2016)
The visitors were trailing to a Faissal El Bakhtaoui goal when the Ivorian produced this piece of magic to bring the scores level. The most impressive part of the overhead kick was that it wasn’t just a reactive fluke. The cross hung in the air for some time and Coulibaly adjusted himself accordingly. He knew exactly what he was doing as he produced the overhead kick, which saw the ball bounce down and into the far corner.
1. Celtic 6 Kilmarnock 1 (24 Sept, 2016)
It couldn’t be anything else, could it? Receiving a short pass over 40 yards from goal, Coulibaly thought nothing of unleashing an astonishing effort that dipped and swerved and found the back of the net beyond Celtic stopper Dorus de Vries. It illustrated both his talent and his fearless attitude. We’ll miss you Souleymane.