Livingston

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored on his Celtic debut to earn his new side a 2-1 victory over bottom of the league Livingston. The former Liverpool midfielder came off the bench with the game tied at 1-1, with Marcelo Saracchi, who also got his first Celtic goal, opening the scoring in the first half before a Robbie Muirhead penalty restored parity. It was a ferocious start from Martin O’Neill’s men, who peppered Jerome Prior’s goal with threats from Callum McGregor and Tomas Cvancara in the opening stages. Yet Livingston still managed to warn the champions that they won’t be having it all their own way, with Stevie May forcing a fantastic save from Kasper Schmeichel after a catalogue of chances up the other end inside the first ten minutes. Daizen Maeda had an effort bundled off the line but Livingston’s resilience was broken on the 15th minute. A corner fell to Marcelo Saracchi at the edge of the penalty box, and the Uruguayan’s effort sailed beyond Prior to break the deadlock. The goal seemingly sucked any life out of the game. Celtic, who could have had a hatful before scoring, failed to create chances at the same rate they had done and went down the tunnel with a slender advantage. This was all the initiative that Marvin Bartley’s side needed. Reo Hatate brought Robbie Muirhead down inside the box and gave the away side a way back into the match from 12 yards. Muirhead stepped up, and fired down the middle whilst Schmeichel dived to his left. The Hoops threw the kitchen sink at Livi in seek of a winner, turning to the likes of Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and cup hero Junior Adamu from the bench for a changes of fortunes. But it would be debutant substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who would deliver the largest impact from the bench in added time. The former Champions League winner opened up his body just outside the area after receiving it from left-winger Sebastian Tounekti, and curled it home to secure all three points for his new employers. Livingston had a penalty claim for handball waved away in the final minute of injury time, with referee Calum Scott’s whistle bringing an end to proceedings as the Lions now sit nine points adrift at the foot of the table. Celtic close the gap on second placed Rangers to a sole point, albeit with a game in hand. Their attention turns to this Sunday as they travel to Kilmarnock with a chance of leapfrogging their rivals for at least a couple of hours before they host Hearts in a mouthwatering top of the table clash. Livingston’s winless run in the league extends to 24 matches following tonight’s late defeat. The all-time record belongs to Morton from 1987/88 who went 28 without victory, Livi are running out of chances not to beat this as they face Dundee up at Den’s Park this Saturday. CELTIC: Schmeichel 5, Saracchi 6 (Tierney 4 61′), Scales 6, Trusty 5, Araujo 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 78′ 5), Engels 2 (Hatate 2 32′), McGregor 5, Maeda 4 (Forrest 2 78′), Nygren 6, Tounekti 5, Cvancara 4 (Adamu 2 61′) LIVINGSTON: Prior 6, Kabongolo 6, Finlayson 5, Wilson 5, Kerr 4 (Montano 2 61′), Lawal 4, Danso 3 (Sylla 61′ 2), Tait 4 (Smith 73′), Pittman 6, May 3 (Wanner 67′ 1) Muirhead 6 (Bokila 1 72′)

Celtic cut the gap to three points on leaders Hearts after a 4-2 win over Livingston at the Home of the Set Fare Arena. Fans were treated to four goals inside the opening ten minutes, as both sides traded blows as the end-to-end action resembled something more like a basketball game rather than a football match. Cristian Montano put Livingston into the driving seat just two minutes in before Benjamin Nygren restored parity just five minutes later. Montano got his second of the game a minute after, but this was cancelled out by Celtic’s South Korean Hyun-Jun Yang straight away to complete a berserk ten minute period. Celtic stamped their authority on the contest with a stunner from Nygren, before Arne Engels converted a spot kick to give the Parkhead side some breathing room. It is Wilfried Nancy’s second win in a row as Celtic manager after losing his first four games, whilst David Martindale still searches for his second win of the season as the West Lothian side languish at the foot of the table. The fans were still making their way inside when Livingston opened the scoring inside the first two minutes. Kieran Tierney’s attempted pass across the park was intercepted by Cristian Montano, who drove forward menacingly and thundered the ball high into deputy goalkeeper Vilijami Sinisalo’s near post. Celtic responded five minutes later when Arne Engels’ delivery from a corner was met by Daizen Maeda, who knocked it down for Swede Benjamin Nygren to net his first of the game and 7th of the season. The Lions roared back less than two minutes later ti continue the frantic start to the game. Scott Pittman’s cross from the right flank fell to Montano again in acres of space inside the box, and the Colombian doubled his tally for the afternoon. Then it was Celtic’s turn for a swift reply. Maeda found space down the left and fired a ball across the floor which was failed to be cleared by Danny Wilson. A stramash ensued inside Jerome Prior’s six-yard box, with Hyun-Jun Yang getting the last touch to bring us to 2-2 only ten minutes into the contest. Celtic continued to threaten with chances coming close from Yang and Maeda, and they would get their breakthrough just on the half hour mark. Tierney found Nygren in space and Celtic’s top scorer for the season so far curled one home, clipping off the inside of the post to put the Hoops ahead for the first time this match and score his third goal in two games. And their lead would be doubled less than ten minutes later. Livingston defender Daniel Finlayson was penalised for handball and a penalty was awarded after referee Matthew MacDermid was advised for an on field review. Arne Engels stepped up, and the Belgian sent Prior in the Livi net the wrong way as he rolled the ball into the bottom right corner. Celtic appeared comfortable going into the interval with a two-goal lead, but their advantage was nearly halved with a flurry of chances in the dying minutes. Anthony Ralston got his head on a Lewis Smith cross to concede a corner, which led to deflected efforts for both Smith and Montano who was hunting a first half hat-trick, but both strikes went just over. There were cheers from the home crowd after they thought Auston Trusty had turned the ball into his own net, but the American international had only headed a Macaulay Tait cross behind for a corner. A charge led by Luke McCowan with around twenty-five minutes to play looked like the game was going to be put to bed. The visitors countered after defending a corner in a 4 vs 2. McCowan had options either side of him and went left to Yang, but the ball could have been better which gave Livingston time to regroup. And Celtic’s defensive fragility was continued to be exposed when Tait pounced on a slack pass and could not be caught as he drove forward. He lacked support however, as his pass across goal was easily cleared by Trusty. The result puts leaves Livingston with just one win all season, but it is only the fourth time in eleven defeats that they have lost by a margin of more than one goal. As for Celtic, they can level Hearts point tally on Tuesday if they are to beat Motherwell at Fir Park, with the Edinburgh side losing today’s derby at Hibs and not in action until the new year when they host today’s home side Livingston. LIVINGSTON: Prior 5, Finlayson 4, Wilson 5, McGowan 4, Montano 8 (Brenet 79’ 1), Tait 6 (Lawal 79’ 1), Pittman 6, Sylla 5, May 5 (Susoho 74’ 1), Smith 6, Yengi 5 (Bokila 46’ 4) (Muirhead 46’ 4) CELTIC: Sinisalo 5, Tierney 7, Trusty 7, Ralston 5, McCowan 7, Yang 6 (Donovan 71’ 2), Engels 6, McGregor 6, Nygren 8 (Hatate 71’ 2), Maeda 5, Kenny 5 (Bernardo 82’ 1)