Celtic ended their struggles against Livingston yesterday with a commanding 3-1 win at the Tony Macaroni Arena. David Martindale can moan about decisions that went against his side but Ange Postecoglou set his team up to win and there was no doubt about that come full time.
Daizen Maeda made it 1-0 as Celtic started quickly in West Lothian. Carl Starfelt headed the ball goalwards from a perfectly weighted Jota corner. The Livi goalkeeper got down well to save but the Japanese striker popped up at the back post to header the ball into the net.
Celtic started the second half with vigor. Tom Rogic powered through the centre of the park before finding James Forrest, who bombed forward. The Scottish Internationalist, who started ahead of Liel Abada, found Tony Ralston, who was advancing forward. The right-back fired a cross towards Maeda but the cross deflected and rattled off Nicky Devlin, who was helpless as the ball hit the net.
Forrest made it 3-0 to Celtic before Livi pulled one back in an entertaining afternoon in West Lothian.Celtic pressed high with McGregor winning the ball back. Rogic passed the ball forward to Jota, who took the ball and played Forrest into space. The winger burst through and steadied himself before sending a shot beyond Max Stryjek. It is a good reward for the Celtic icon, who has struggled with injuries over the last two seasons but today he has proved that he is still a valuable part of the squad.
The win extended Celtic’s lead at the top of the Cinch Premiership table to three points after Rangers temporarily drew level having beaten Aberdeen on Saturday. There are three games remaining before the split, Celtic have home games against Ross County and St Johnstone sandwiched between the game at Ibrox.
