Celtic 2-1 Livingston: Celtic regain their nine-point lead at the top
Celtic 2-1 Livingston: Kyogo Furuhashi nets the winner as Ange Postecoglou’s side regain their nine-point lead over rivals Rangers at the top of the SPL
- Celtic retain their nine-point lead over Rangers with 2-1 win against Livingston
- Kyogo Furuhashi’s first half strike was enough to separate the two sides
- An own goal from Livingston’s Ayo Obileye gave Celtic a 23rd minute lead
- Nicky Devlin pulled one back in first half stoppage time to give Livingston hope
- Celtic had a third goal ruled out by VAR following check but took all three points
Livingston don’t benefit from a great of love or appreciation around the Scottish Premiership. And the dislike Celtic have of playing them might be a little more intense than most.
On nights like this you can just about understand why. The champions ended the night by restoring their lead over Rangers at the summit of the Premiership to nine points. Against a cussed opponent, however, they were made to work harder than they anticipated. Make no mistake, this finished up a slog of a victory.
Kudos to David Martindale’s side. Two goals down at the death of the first half looked down and out.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s celebrates Celtic’s winner in their 2-1 victory over Livingston on Wednesday
Their possession figure was 19 per cent. They’d failed to muster a shot on goal. Kyogo Furuhashi had just added his 12th strike of the season to Ayo Obileye’s own goal and Celtic looked to be cruising to another emphatic win.
As the board went up for three minutes of added time, the home team were quickly disabused of any illusion that the game was over.
Poor defending allowed Livingston skipper Nicky Devlin to muscle his way in to mark his 100th appearance for the club and nudge the ball past Joe Hart. The timing of the goal awful, Celtic now had a second half contest to contend with.
Celtic players embrace after Ayo Obileye’s own goal gave them a 1-0 lead in the first half
After the break Livingston made an absolute nuisance of themselves, their work-rate phenomenal. They rode their luck when, in a developing pattern, Celtic wasted chance after chance. They were fortunate to escape yet another VAR decision against the champions when Liel Abada slammed the ball low into the net with 18 minutes to play.
Make no mistake, however, this is a team – brilliantly coached by a smart manager – who make their own luck. To say Ange Postecoglou’s players hate playing against them might be the biggest compliment you could pay them.
Their goal was a game changer, coming seconds after Furuhashi had slammed the champions into a 2-0 lead. There were good reasons, then, for thinking it was game over.
Celtic had won their previous 15 home league games under the floodlights. They’d conceded just one goal in the process. The last opposition team to avoid defeat in a midweek game at Parkhead was Kilmarnock. That was four and a half years ago.
The win means Ange Postecoglou side retain their nine-point lead over Rangers in the table
If any team were entitled to fancy their chances it was Martindale’s Livi. While they’d never actually won at Celtic Park, their three previous three visits had ended in scoreless draws.
That said their game against Dundee United a victim of weather the visitors came into this without a game in six weeks. Against a Celtic team who never stop it was an imperfect preparation.
Playing at a high tempo the champions threw goal after goal into the area.
On nights like this you wonder if Giorgos Giakoumakis would make more of the opportunities.
Out of touch of late Furuhashi would justify his selection eventually, but Celtic’s opener came with a slice of forced good fortune.
David Martindale saw his side make a nuisance of themselves in the second half of the game
Liel Abada was relentless in his running and after 23 minutes the Israeli winger drove the ball across the face of goal once more.
Instead of attacking the ball central defender Ayo Obileye allowed it to ricochette off his knee and high into the top corner of the net past his own keeper Ivan Konovalov.
The dam burst Celtic had the bit between their teeth. They were relentless.
When Abada slammed on the burners after half an hour he picked out the smart run of Kyogo. A smart block from Konovalov denied the Japanese international the goal he craved.
His first goal since Motherwell would come on the cusp of half-time. The fourth official’s board went up to show three minutes of added time when the league leaders scored a clinical second.
Nicky Devlin’s strike in first half stoppage time gave Livingston some hope against Celtic
A brilliant piercing ball from Anthony Ralston cut Livingston’s defence to shreds. Abada again lashed the ball across the face of goal and, this time, Kyogo was in position to lash the ball into the top corner from point blank range.
MATCH FACTS AND RATINGS
CELTIC (4-3-3): Hart 5; Ralston 6 (Bernabei 52 5), Carter-Vickers 7, Starfelt 7 , Taylor 5; McGregor 6, O’Riley 6 (Mooy 82 2), Hatate 6 (Turnbull 65 3) ; Abada 8, Jota 5 (Haksabanovic 65), Furuhashi 5 (Giakoumakis 82 2)
Subs: Siegrist, Jenz Maeda, Forrest.
Booked: Bernabei
LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): Konovalov 6; Longridge 6, Fitzwater 5 (Goncalves 72 3), Obilaye 4 (Boyes 45 5); Devlin 6, Sean Kelly 5 (Holt 69 3) Stephen Kelly 5 , Omeonga 5 (Pittman 69 3), Penrice 5 ; Montano 4 (Shinnie 69 3), Anderson 5
Subs: Hamilton, Behamboula , Pittman , Holt, Nouble, Shinnie, Cancar
Referee: E Anderson
Booked: n/a
Fact-box text
That really should have been that. Yet any notion of the Celtic support relaxing and enjoying half-time was swiftly dismissed.
In the second added minute, straight from the kick-off, Livingston took advantage of feeble defending from Greg Taylor – a simple through ball allowing skipper Nicky Devlin to celebrate his 100th appearance for the club by squeezing the ball past Joe Hart.
With a mere 19 per cent possession and just one shot on target Livingston had a way back into the game. They had given themselves a chance. And added an air of trepidation to the home crowd as the second half got underway.
Celtic’s discomfort only increased with the loss of right-back Anthony Ralston six minutes into the second half. With Croatian World Cup star Josip Juranovic granted rest and recovery time and new Canadian international Alistair Johnston ineligible until January 1 the timing of Ralston’s injury was ill-timed, forcing Scotland left-back Greg Taylor to switch to the right as Alexandro Bernabei took to the pitch.
Against a hard working Livingston team with a bone to cling to the game was becoming dogged battle of attrition for Celtic. A reminder of the fragility of their lead came when Livingston midfielder Stephen Kelly smashed a 20 yard shot at goal, Joe Hart beating it to safety as the home support gasped.
Celtic thought they had finally sealed the points with 18 minutes to play. Liel Abada looked to be in an offside position when he took advantage of poor defending by Livingston substitute Morgan Boyes to slam the ball low into the net.
A check by VAR came down to interpretation of the rules. After an interminable delay referee was sent to the pitchside monitor to check if Boyes had made an active play towards the ball. Deciding he hadn’t Abada was judged to be offside.
Celtic fans are convinced VAR has done them no favours. It’s a view which shows no sign of changing any time soon.
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article