Celtic maintained their nine-point lead in the Scottish Premiership after easing to victory against Livingston.
Ange Postecoglou’s side blitzed their visitors in the first half, with Greg Taylor netting the first with a sweet strike across the deck and Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi both converting one of a plethora of chances.
The onslaught eased after the break but Celtic strolled to victory, with Livingston’s only real threat coming when Bruce Anderson struck the woodwork from an acute angle.
Celtic absolutely smothered their visitors. This was a fantastic, unrelenting display, particularly first half, which ought to have brought more goals.
Livingston struggled to hold any possession at all, never mind creep up the pitch to threaten other than one moment in the first half.
It was a one-way street with the visitors chasing around a cul-de-sac with no exit.
That was the direct result of Celtic dominating the ball but winning it back instantaneously if they lost it. That was rare.
The first threat came when Jota tried to thread the ball in front of the onrushing Kyogo, but the ball carried a touch too much weight.
The Portuguese winger then somehow contrived to miss from a few yards when Maeda showed brilliant pace and poise to flash the ball across the six-yard box but there was no connection with the goal gaping.
Just when you thought Livingston were about to frustrate their hosts, Reo Hatate gathered in the box, laid it back to the onrushing Taylor, in a now familiar advanced inside-left position, and he fired across Shamal George into the corner.
The second followed quickly. Livingston just couldn’t get a decisive clearance and when they finally tried one, the ball cannoned off the onrushing Maeda and home. His persistence paid off and Celtic were off and running.
Livingston did manage one scare on the almost anonymous Joe Hart’s goal when Anderson seized on a slip, but his shot cracked a post and the follow up fell wide. There endeth Livingston’s threat and any hope of a revival.
Celtic’s third was as simple as inevitable. Matt O’Riley launched an accurate ball upfield for Kyogo. He had Jack Fitzwater for company, but bobbed and weaved towards the box before placing his 21st goal of the season into the net.
The second half was a procession that lacked the killer touch with Celtic constantly probing and Livingston staying stoic in adversity.
They held firm to stop more damage with the result determined in the opening 45.
Player of the match – Daizen Maeda
Dominant Celtic suffocate Livingston – analysis
Postecoglou has been suggesting again of late that he wants his side to finish the season even stronger, something he demanded last term. He is getting a response to that expectation once again.
Celtic were utterly dominant. They went at Livingston from the first and, despite taking longer than expected to break through, the outcome never seemed in doubt. It could and should have been a much greater margin.
Livingston were well organised but lacked threat other than their only glaring chance which passed them by and their hopes went with it. They’ll look to get back to the form they had coming in to this having been unbeaten in 2023.
Celtic’s domestic consistency is frightening. No league home losses under Postecoglou since his arrival and an unbeaten, almost exclusively winning, run since the loss to St Mirren in September has them motoring nicely towards the title.
What’s next?
With 14 league games remaining, Celtic travel to St Johnstone on Sunday (12:00 GMT) looking to take another step towards retaining their title. Livingston host Kilmarnock the previous day (15:00) looking to cement their top-six position.
Line-ups
Celtic
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Hart
- 2Johnston
- 20Carter-Vickers
- 4Starfelt
- 3Taylor
- 33O’RileySubstituted forMooyat 63′minutes
- 42McGregorSubstituted forIwataat 85′minutes
- 41HatateSubstituted forTurnbullat 75′minutes
- 17Neves FilipeSubstituted forAbadaat 63′minutes
- 8FuruhashiSubstituted forOhat 75′minutes
- 38MaedaBooked at 81mins
Substitutes
- 9Haksabanovic
- 11Abada
- 13Mooy
- 14Turnbull
- 18Kobayashi
- 19Oh
- 24Iwata
- 29Bain
- 49Forrest
Livingston
Formation 3-5-1-1
- 1George
- 6Obileye
- 5Fitzwater
- 15Boyes
- 2DevlinBooked at 51minsSubstituted forMontañoat 57′minutes
- 33OméongaSubstituted forKellyat 69′minutes
- 18Holt
- 8Pittman
- 29Penrice
- 22ShinnieSubstituted forBradleyat 81′minutes
- 9AndersonSubstituted forNoubleat 69′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Longridge
- 11Montaño
- 16Bradley
- 17Kelly
- 19Nouble
- 23De Lucas
- 24Kelly
- 28Guthrie
- 32Hamilton
- Referee:
- Nick Walsh
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Celtic 3, Livingston 0.
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Second Half ends, Celtic 3, Livingston 0.
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Attempt missed. Liel Abada (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Tomoki Iwata.
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Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Pittman.
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Attempt blocked. Alistair Johnston (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by David Turnbull.
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Offside, Celtic. Liel Abada tries a through ball, but Aaron Mooy is caught offside.
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Foul by Greg Taylor (Celtic).
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Steven Bradley (Livingston) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Offside, Celtic. Hyeon-Gyu Oh tries a through ball, but Liel Abada is caught offside.
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Substitution, Celtic. Tomoki Iwata replaces Callum McGregor.
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Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Cristian Montaño.
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Attempt missed. David Turnbull (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Aaron Mooy with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Celtic. Conceded by James Penrice.
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Attempt blocked. Liel Abada (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Mooy.
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Offside, Celtic. Greg Taylor tries a through ball, but Daizen Maeda is caught offside.
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Substitution, Livingston. Steven Bradley replaces Andrew Shinnie.
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Daizen Maeda (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Daizen Maeda (Celtic).
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Cristian Montaño (Livingston) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt blocked. Scott Pittman (Livingston) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Celtic
Starting XI
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Squad number1Player nameHart
Average rating5.97
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Squad number2Player nameJohnston
Average rating7.00
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Squad number20Player nameCarter-Vickers
Average rating6.47
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Squad number4Player nameStarfelt
Average rating6.72
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Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Average rating6.49
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Squad number33Player nameO’Riley
Average rating6.45
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Squad number42Player nameMcGregor
Average rating6.22
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Squad number41Player nameHatate
Average rating6.63
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Squad number17Player nameJota
Average rating6.71
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Squad number8Player nameFuruhashi
Average rating6.82
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Squad number38Player nameMaeda
Average rating6.85
Substitutes
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Squad number11Player nameAbada
Average rating6.13
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Squad number13Player nameMooy
Average rating5.90
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Squad number14Player nameTurnbull
Average rating6.24
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Squad number19Player nameOh
Average rating5.58
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Squad number24Player nameIwata
Average rating5.54
Livingston
Starting XI
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Squad number1Player nameGeorge
Average rating8.26
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Squad number6Player nameObileye
Average rating7.08
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Squad number5Player nameFitzwater
Average rating7.28
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Squad number15Player nameBoyes
Average rating6.22
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Squad number2Player nameDevlin
Average rating6.78
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Squad number33Player nameOméonga
Average rating6.69
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Squad number18Player nameHolt
Average rating7.39
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Squad number8Player namePittman
Average rating7.53
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Squad number29Player namePenrice
Average rating6.92
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Squad number22Player nameShinnie
Average rating7.53
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Squad number9Player nameAnderson
Average rating7.60
Substitutes
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Squad number11Player nameCristian Montaño
Average rating7.88
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Squad number16Player nameBradley
Average rating8.36
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Squad number17Player nameKelly
Average rating9.16
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Squad number19Player nameNouble
Average rating8.12