FOOTBALL for even the most dominant teams is rarely so easy as this was for a Celtic side which cantered to victory without having to break into a trot.
It was in many ways perfect preparation ahead of Wednesday’s home tie with AEK Athens in that nobody got injured, and more fitness and confidence were gained on a day when 75-per-cent effort was enough to see off one of the league’s new clubs in Livingston.
The plan surely for Brendan Rodgers is for his team to have a lead, preferably by a couple of goals to the good and none conceded, when they fly into the Greek capital for a return match which will have a huge effect on this season.
The men from Athens are not the most difficult opponent Celtic could have drawn at this stage but they will be more than capable of winning this tie. Their tactic will be to leave Glasgow with something to play for knowing their Scottish opponents are not brilliant away from home on European duty.
Athens, currently sizzling at 33 degree Celcius and getting hotter, is a hostile environment even on a chilly night.
As far as Livingston are concerned, it was best to get this one out of the way. A club and team which deserves to be in the Premiership – but by rights shouldn’t be there – won’t be judged by anyone, including themselves, against Celtic on flag day in Glasgow.
The Livi players ran all day, effort won’t be a problem for Kenny Miller's group this term, and just about earned their late goal. But this a mismatch, which isn’t to say that Celtic were not pleasant on the eye.
Kieran Tierney began on the bench, a nod to the upcoming match – Jozo Simunovic got 90 minutes following his suspension – and alongside the left-back in the technical area was the welcome sight of Leigh Griffiths. With Moussa Dembele struggling for fitness, Celtic could really do with their top goalscorer, still on 98 goals, free from injury.
The game was 29 seconds old when Miller, an old foe and now Livingston player/manager, crunched into Tom Rogic which earned him a word from referee Nick Walsh and the predictable response from the stands. It was to be one of the few complaints from the home crowd.
Goal No 1 came with seven minutes gone and was so simple. Celtic passed the ball looking for an opening, Jonny Hayes was free on the left so possession was shifted to him, he crossed, Tom Rogic won the high ball and directed it into the corner of the net.
Livingston worked ever-so hard but they could do little in all honesty about Celtic’s second on 26 minutes.
A corner for the visitors was cleared, James Forrest’s clever header got the ball to Rogic’s feet and the Australian ate up the Celtic Park turf, it was four against two in favour of the attackers, his pass to Olivier Ntcham was perfect, the midfielder’s shot was kept out but the ball kindly fell to Odsonne Edouard yards from an empty net.
Pantomime villain Miller was booked before half-time for being too aggressive when going for a high ball with Mikael Lustig who took a blow to his face. That went down well.
Celtic’s third was a penalty. McGregor almost succeeded in dribbling his way through the Livingston defence but was tripped, Craig Halkett the culprit, as he almost emerged on the other side. Ntcham is not one for nerves and found the bottom corner from 12 yards.
Miller prevented a fourth by heading an outstanding effort from Lustig off the line who did a bit of keepy-uppy inside the box following a corner before taking on a volley.
Griffiths and Tierney got on before the hour. The striker looked really sharp and eager to impress – a good sign because this is a player who has always looked comfortable on the bigger stage. It will be interesting to see whether Rodgers goes with both Edouard and Griffiths on Wednesday.
Griffiths almost scored goal No.99 for Celtic with 15 minutes to go when he brilliantly controlled a long ball from Lustig which came over his shoulder, his first touch was exquisite, but while he got around Liam Kelly in Livingston’s goal, he was off balance and at a tight angle as he tried to find the net.
Celtic would have scored more if that had been a requirement. Indeed, a Griffiths corner rattled the crossbar, James Forrest seemed to be pulled down as he shot from close range and Rogic, the great entertainer, took on a shot when an unhappy Griffiths was on-hand for a tap-in.
Wednesday will be more of a work-out and Celtic look in good shape to deal with it.
Although there was a warning. The defence stood still in injury-time as a free-kick into Celtic’s box was prodded past Craig Gordon at the second attempt by Scott Robinson.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel