Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Callum Carson

Livingston swept aside as Celtic seal comfortable win at Tony Macaroni Arena

Celtic strengthened their grip at the top of the table with a comfortable 3-0 away win over Livingston.

The Hoops were simply too good for David Martindale's side, who went into the clash off the back of a spirited draw at Ibrox the previous week.

But they were unable to get a share of the spoils this afternoon as a 10th minute goal from Kyogo Furuhashi was added to in the second-half by Greg Taylor's long-distance strike before Jota completed the scoring four minutes from time.

Livingston boss David Martindale made three changes to the starting line-up from last week's draw at Ibrox - most notably a debut for goalkeeper Jack Hamilton with no.1 Shamal George ruled out through injury.

Jackson Longridge and James Penrice were both recalled at the expense of Cristian Montano and Andrew Shinnie while it was a milestone 100th Lions appearance for Jason Holt.

The hosts will no doubt have been looking to keep things tight early on but Celtic had other ideas as Furuhashi blasted home on nine minutes. The Japanese attacker beat Hamilton high at his near post after latching on to a terrific ball from Taylor.

Livi had moments earlier fashioned their first chance of the contest but Joel Nouble could only direct his strike from a Stephen Kelly whipped free-kick directly at Joe Hart.

Celtic were being afforded far too much time on the ball and Furuhashi was once again played in behind the backline midway through the first-half but could only poke wide under pressure from Jack Fitzwater. James Forrest was next to go close for the Hoops but he dragged his effort inches past the left-hand post after neat build-up play.

The away side continued to dominate, as expected, with Aaron Mooy's strike being fizzed wide as they looked to add to their lead.

The second-half followed the same pattern with Ange Postocoglou's men predictably controlling much of the proceedings. Hamilton was called into action instantly as he palmed away a 25-yard Greg Taylor strike within 90 seconds of the restart.

The full-back didn't have to wait long to get his goal, though, as he double Celtic's lead eight minutes into the second-half. A Livi block fell kindly into his path and he made no mistake from 20-yards with a strike that appeared to catch Hamilton unsighted - going through the keeper's legs with a host of bodies in front of him.

The remainder of the contest was Celtic probing for a third with large spells of the play spent in the Livi half. The Lions held firm, though, with the visitors limited to half chances.

They were presented a golden opportunity to firm put the game to bed on 82 minutes when Willie Collum gave the visitors a penalty for a handball on Andrew Shinnie after consulting VAR. Georgios Giakoumakis would miss the spot-kick but Jota would roll the ball home from close range three minutes later to ensure the Celts would get a third goal.

Livingston: Hamilton; Devlin, Obileye, Fitzwater, Se. Kelly, Longridge; Pittman (Anderson 77), Holt, Penrice (Omeonga 74); St. Kelly (Shinnie 62); Nouble. Subs not used: Konovalov, Bahamboula, Goncalves.

Celtic: Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; Mooy, O'Riley (Turnbull 67), Hatate (Abildgaard 80); Forrest (Abada 67), Furuhashi (Giakoumakis 80), Haksabanovic (Jota 80). Subs not used: Siegrist, Bernabei Maeda, Juranovic.

Goals: Furuhashi (10), Taylor (53), Jota (86).

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.