Livingston 0-3 Celtic: Hoops return to top of Scottish Premiership ahead of next weekend's crunch Old Firm clash
Match report and highlights as Celtic score three second-half goals to win 3-0 at bottom side Livingston as Brendan Rodgers serves touchline ban; Hoops return to top of Scottish Premiership and move one point ahead of Rangers; the top two meet at Ibrox next Sunday, live on Sky Sports
Monday 1 April 2024 00:20, UK
Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership after a 3-0 win at bottom side Livingston put them a point above Rangers ahead of next weekend's crunch Old Firm clash.
The Hoops scored three second-half goals, with an unfortunate Jamie Brandon own goal giving them the lead in the 49th minute.
Substitute Paulo Bernardo then doubled the lead in the 72nd minute as he drilled a low shot into the bottom corner from outside the box, before Matt O'Riley added a third 10 minutes later.
- How the teams lined up | Match stats
- Scottish Premiership table | Fixtures | Results
- Stream the Scottish Premiership & more with NOW
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers watched on from the stands as he served the first touchline ban of his career.
But Rodgers will be back in the dugout for next Sunday's crucial title clash at Ibrox, live on Sky Sports, with Celtic's comfortable win at the Tony Macaroni Arena seeing them now boast a better goal difference than Rangers, who have a game in hand.
Trending
- Arsenal pushing for second against Ipswich LIVE!
- Dominant Brighton held by Brentford LIVE!
- World Darts Championship: Wright leads after Price wins thriller LIVE!
- Transfer Centre LIVE! Barca blocked from playing Olmo as Yamal set for new deal
- Ronaldo: Man Utd 'storm' will finish under Amorim
- World Darts Championship schedule: Price, Humphries in action tonight
- Villa latest: FA turns down Villa appeal to overturn Duran red card
- EFL latest: Stoke City sack Pelach
- Man Utd latest: The damning stats behind Amorim's start as head coach
- Ref Watch: Was Onana fouled for Cunha corner goal?
Livingston, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table and, with just seven games to go, are in grave danger of slipping into the Championship as they sit 10 points behind second-bottom Ross County.
How Celtic overcame a sluggish first half and penalty controversy to win
With Rodgers absent on the touchline, there was a boost before kick-off for Celtic as midfielder Reo Hatate came in for his first Hoops start of 2024 after being sidelined by a calf problem.
The Japanese midfielder had Celtic's first shot as he rifled over the bar in the fifth minute as the visitors struggled to create much despite their unsurprising dominance.
There was a contentious moment when Kyogo Furuhashi went down in the box under a challenge from Livingston captain Michael Devlin, but no penalty was awarded and VAR did not see any reason to overturn the on-field decision.
The controversy led to Sky Sports pundits Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd clashing at half-time over the decision as the former believed Celtic should have been awarded a penalty but the latter disagreed.
The incident overshadowed a poor first half from Celtic whose only shot on target came in stoppage time as Furuhashi drew a smart low save from Shamal George.
But Celtic's frustrations were finally ended four minutes into the second half when they broke the deadlock through a scrappy own goal.
The goal came as Hatate's close-range shot was superbly saved by George but then the ball unfortunately rebounded off Brandon into the back of the net.
Celtic's second was not lucky, however, as substitute Bernardo played a neat one-two with Matt O'Riley before firing a low strike from distance into the bottom corner.
O'Riley then turned goalscorer in the 82nd minute as his low shot from inside the box squirmed under George to take Celtic's goal difference to +51, one goal better than Rangers.
Kennedy: Players' calmness important in win
Celtic assistant manager John Kennedy speaking to Sky Sports:
"A controlled performance. We limited Livingston to next to nothing. We scored some very good goals, so it's a pleasing afternoon because it can be difficult here.
"As the game went on we knew it'd open up. It's easy at this stage of the season to get drawn into chasing something and doing something we're not used to. We just continued to do what we do and that's what the players know.
"The calmness of them maintained that ability to maintain pressure and eventually they break down and we get a goal, so that's important for us."
Martindale: Individual errors costing us
Livingston boss David Martindale speaking to Sky Sports:
"The game went how I wanted it to go in the first half. It's the story of the season: it's just moments within games and individual errors.
"When you lose the first goal against the Old Firm, the game becomes difficult at that point. The dynamics and complexities totally change and that falls right into Celtic's hands."
What's next?
Live SPFL
Livingston host Aberdeen in their next Scottish Premiership match on April 6. Kick-off 3pm.
Celtic travel to Rangers for the next Old Firm clash on April 7, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 12pm.
Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp!
You can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, in-depth features and videos from our dedicated WhatsApp channel!
