Scottish Premiership
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC…4
(Edouard 19, Brown 57, Forrest 65, 91)

LIVINGSTON…0

CELTIC marked their return to action with a dominant 4-0 win against Livingston at Paradise. The international break did nothing to interfere with the team's current form as the champions overran their opponents with an excellent display of attacking football.

Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring in the first half, while Scott Brown doubled the lead early in the second period. James Forrest followed that up with a brace to complete the scoring.

The visitors defended well in the early stages and limited Celtic to just a couple of chances in the first 15 minutes. The impressive Jeremie Frimpong was the first to test Matija Sarkic in the Livingston goal but, after cutting inside to get sight at goal, the full-back’s effort was straight at the keeper.

Forrest let loose with a looping volley 25 yards from goal which looked to fizzing towards the net before it was blocked at the expence of a corner.

Tom Rogic’s creativity began to yield more chances in front of goal as first half progressed. He teed up Callum McGregor on the edge of the penalty area with a deft flick on, but McGregor didn’t get enough on the shot and Sarkic comfortably saved the attempt.

Moments later Rogic emerged with another good piece of creative play which did yield a goal. This time the Australian sliced open the Livi defence with a through ball from just inside the opposition half. Edouard timed his run perfectly, dribbled into the box and held off a challenge before chipping the ball over the keeper to put the Hoops in front.

The game opened up more after the opener and Celtic began penetrating the opposition defence with more frequency. A dummy by Christie on the edge of the penalty area allowed the ball to run on to Rogic but the midfielder’s left-footed shot towards the far post was too close to the keeper.

The majority of Celtic’s attacking play in the wide areas came from Frimpong, who was excellent throughout the entire 90 minutes, on the right, but Forrest was increasingly threatening as the half wore on. He had a shot from a tight angle saved and then handed Edouard a great chance for a second with a lovely through ball.

Livingston should have found themselves trailing by more at the break had Celtic taken more of the chances they created. The best fell to Rogic who fired over the crossbar from close-range after Frimpong had done so well to beat Steve Lawson out on the byline and set up his team-mate.

Neil Lennon brought on Greg Taylor for Jonny Hayes five minutes into the second half and the Scotland internationalist almost scored within five minutes of being on the pitch. A quick one-two with Forrest on the left saw Taylor dart into the box but his shot from a tight angle hit the post.

Celtic’s pursuit for a well-deserved second goal came a couple of minutes later when Scott Brown was given enough time and space of the edge of the box to drill a shot on target which took a deflection on its way in.

Frimpong continued to torment Lawless out on the right wing with his pace and footwork. After getting away from his marker, the Dutch defender zipped in a great pass across the face of goal that was inches out of reach for Edouard.

He timed his run to leave Lawless for dead again as he burst on to a good through ball from Edouard. His shot was straight at the keeper but Forrest was in position to smash home the rebound on the volley.

Leigh Griffiths marked his return when he came on for Edouard with just over 20 minutes remaining. The 28-year-old came close to scoring not long after coming off the bench with a shot from 18 yards that was just over the crossbar.

There was no let off for the visitors as the game drew to its conclusion. Celtic continued to work hard to maintain the pressure on Livi and add to their lead.

Christie was denied a wonderful goal late in the game when Sarkic leaped across goal to palm over his strike that looked destined for the top corner. Christie made an excellent contribution right at the end when he picked out Forrest, who raced through on goal and finished at the near post.

CELTIC: Forster; Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Hayes (Taylor 50); Brown, McGregor, Rogic (Ntcham 75), Christie, Forrest; Edouard (Griffiths 68)
Subs: Gordon, Bitton, Griffiths, Bauer, Morgan

LIVINGSTON: Sarkic, Lamie, Bartley, Pittman, Dykes, Lawless (Odofin 68), Crawford (Tiffoney 75), McMillan (Jacobs 68), Guthrie, Taylor-Sinclair, Lawson
Subs: Stewart, Robinson, Erskine, Souda

Website Man of the Match: Jeremie Frimpong

Impressive Celtic sink Livingston to continue winning run