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The debutant Kelechi Iheanacho scored a last-gasp penalty as mutinous Celtic fans were left celebrating a 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock that moved them back to the top of the Premiership.
After a summer in which the club were widely deemed to have failed to adequately bolster their squad in the summer before crashing out of the Champions League at the hands of Kairat Almaty, angry supporters held a crisis meeting last week and decided to boycott the opening 12 minutes of the Rugby Park fixture. Around half of the travelling fans opted against partaking in the late-entry protest while the others eventually filtered in to witness the remainder of an underwhelming, goalless first half from Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Daizen Maeda eased some of the tension when he headed the reigning champions in front with only his second goal since April. But on a day when “sack the board” chants and banners were evident from the away end, it looked like the hierarchy were set to come under further pressure when David Watson headed Killie level in the 83rd minute.
With virtually the last kick of the match, however, Iheanacho – a free-agent signing after the transfer deadline – smashed home his spot-kick after fellow substitute James Forrest’s shot was adjudged to have been handled by Lewis Mayo.
Meanwhile, Russell Martin is understood to retain the backing of the Rangers board despite fans furiously calling for his dismissal during and after the 2-0 home defeat to Hearts on Saturday.
A Lawrence Shankland double gave the visitors their first win at Ibrox in 11 years and left Gers supporters incandescent with rage at the worst start to a league campaign in 47 years. Four draws and a defeat in the first five Premiership games has left Rangers in 10th place in the table and fed-up fans sang “Martin, Martin get to fuck” throughout the afternoon, while boos echoed around the ground during another dismal performance.
There were also chants in support of the Belgium midfielder Nicolas Raskin, left out of the squad and sitting in the stands amid a dispute with the former Southampton manager, who heard both Hearts and Rangers fans sing “sacked in the morning” as the points headed to Tynecastle.
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Martin, 39, has won only three of his 12 games in charge so far with the Light Blues bounced out of the Champions League qualifier by Club Brugge 9-1 on aggregate. The under-fire boss replied with a firm “no” when asked after the Hearts match if he was going to resign and when quizzed on the reaction from the fans, he said: “They’re entitled to their opinion, so I can’t come out here and criticise that. The fans are always entitled to their opinion.”
Martin is expected to remain in his post with the support of the club and will prepare for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Hibernian at Ibrox next Saturday.
