Unlucky for some but thankfully not for Celtic. On a night of alarm calls sounding on and off the pitch at the Tony Macaroni it was Celtic who increased their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 13 points, as rather improbably ‘the’ Rangers were plumbing new depths by losing at home to Hamilton Accies. The real cause for alarm is for those who follow the Ibrox club. Celtic as things stand are sitting pretty.
There has been a fair amount of discontent over last night’s performance but considering we were on the end of a 2-0 reverse at the same venue in October there is solace at least in an improvement on that encounter and performance.
Callum McGregor opened the scoring as Celtic started strongly with a brilliant strike through a ruck of players past McCrorie in the 16th minute. A fine goal from a player who rarely seems have a bad game. No mean feat considering how many he plays.
Unfortunately it was quickly cancelled out when Jon Guthrie hooked the ball into the Celtic net after a howler from Fraser Forster. Post-match Neil Lennon claimed he felt Forster was fouled. If he looks back at replays he may change his mind. Forster did the right thing to come for the ball but it was one that required a punch rather than an attempted catch. That said the goal should not have stood. Not for the challenge on the ‘keeper however, instead for the foul throw from the delivery into the box. One of several similar indiscretions on the night that wasn’t picked up by the otherwise overly officious Willie Collum.
The second half started terribly when Christopher Jullien tried to barge Lyndon Dykes off the ball and lost the physical battle. Dykes broke free and squared the ball perfectly to Scott Robinson who put Livingston in front.
Jullien does seem spooked when he plays against Dykes. Squaring up to the player, staying on his feet and simply blocking Dykes way to goal would have been the sensible approach but something does seem to happen to Jullien when he visits the Tony Macaroni and particularly when he comes up against Lyndon Dykes. Not many teams come from behind to lead against Celtic. Fair play to our opponents. On their home ‘turf’ they are a very tough rival.
It was a real worry that Robinson’s goal would prove decisive but Celtic responded brilliantly and continued to press and probe for an opening through a very strong Livi backline.
It was this pressure and resilience that led to a last gasp equaliser in injury time. This Celtic side have only lost twice in league football this season and it was clear they didn’t fancy adding to it.
Odsonne Edouard who tried all night to have an impact on the game broke free down Celtic’s left. He managed to escape Ambrose who looked fearful of conceding the penalty before squaring the ball for Tom Rogic who managed to score the equaliser via a slight deflection on the way.
This was no smash and grab. Celtic may not have created as many opportunities as they often would but it must be said a draw was the least they deserved for their endeavours.
Celtic move on to a sold out Celtic Park for the visit of St Mirren. If the Hoops were to deliver three points on Saturday the pressure on our Ibrox rivals would be too much to cope with.
On a night of fire alarms at The Tony Macaroni it’s the tolling of the funeral bells that ‘the’ Rangers can hear ringing in their ears. The 15th of March may well see their league aspirations receive the last rites.
Niall J
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