Livingston 0 Celtic 3 – Ten-man Hoops win big on the road after Joe Hart SENT OFF with Hatate, O’Riley & Maeda on target

CELTIC saw red for the third time in five days – but still cruised to victory at Livingston.

Keeper Joe Hart’s first-half last-man red card followed Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm’s orderings-off in the Champions League in Rotterdam in midweek.

Kenny Ramsay

Reo Hatate fires in the penalty for the opener[/caption]

PA

Celtic’s Daizen Maeda and Livingston’s Jamie Brandon battle for the ball[/caption]

Hart walked with less than a third of the game gone when Mo Sangare raced on to James Penrice’s through ball on the edge of the box.

The Liberian got a toe to it first, the English keeper flattened him on the follow through, and there were no complaints about John Beaton’s decision. 

James Forrest – who’d been a surprise pick in Brendan Rodgers’ selection – was sacrificed, ending the winger’s first start since the Old Firm game on January 2.

But through Celtic played for over an hour with ten men, they were already a goal to the good thanks to Reo Hatate’s early penalty – and Matt O’Riley’s second in the early minutes of the second half sealed the destination of the points.

Daizen Maeda curled in a third four minutes into stoppage time to seal the win.

Had Livi managed to get a foothold after the break, they might’ve been able to get at 10-man Celtic.

But the second goal gave Celtic a stranglehold on the points that never looked like loosening and they extended their lead at the top of the table in some comfort.

This was their third successive win on a pitch where they’ve had problems in the past and the third time in a row they’d scored three goals in doing so.  

Forrest’s short-lived appearance – he came in for Honduran Luis Palma – was the only change from the side who’d lost against Feyenoord in midweek.

Rodgers’ side contained only one of his summer signings – defender Lagerbielke – with four more on the bench.

It was a clear signal that Rodgers’ intention was to go with tried and tested campaigners on Livi’s artificial surface – and it proved a prudent decision.

PA

Reo Hatate celebrates scoring their side’s first goal of the game[/caption]

Celtic had been held to a goalless draw on Rodgers’ last visit to West Lothian as Parkhead manager – in November 2018, three months before his departure – but his side were soon in control yesterday.

Livi had an early opening of their own, Anderson’s drive saved by Hart and the halfhit rebound from Pittman cleared off the line by McGregor.

But Furuhashi saw his angled drive saved by George and in Celtic’s next attack they went ahead.

Greg Taylor’s pass saw Luiyi de Lucas caught on the wrong side of Hatate and his clumsy tackle was mistimed and sent the Japanese sprawling.

It was a clear penalty which Hatate took himself – and his effort squeezed under George, with the goalkeeper looking like he could’ve done better in his attempt to keep it out.

The breakthrough having been obtained, Celtic went in search of more. Forrest and Maeda combined cleverly in the Livi box and George got down well to block the Japanese’ shot.

But Celtic’s huge territorial dominance changed with Hart’s departure, with Scott Bain coming on for his first game since the defeat at Easter Road in May.

The replacement was soon in action, diving low to his right to save well from Ayo Obileye’s drive.

And though Livi were first to show after the break – Sangare firing wide from Jamie Brandon’s low cross – Celtic swept upfield and put the game out of the home side’s reach in their first proper attack.

The goal was a catastrophe for the home side and led to a post-mortem between keeper George and his defenders.

Furuhashi’s cross was allowed to go all the way across goal to Maeda, and although the goalkeeper did well to block his effort, the ball ran kindly for O’Riley to finish.

Livi obviously still sensed there was something in the match for them. Penrice saw a right-foot drive saved before they were presented with a great opportunity to pull one back by Celtic’s sub keeper.

Bain’s lack of concentration saw Nouble nip in and claim possession but his attempt to chip the keeper from the edge of the box ended with the ball sailing over the bar.

With chances to expose the Celtic defence at a premium, it was a costly miss and home fans were bemused that the striker hadn’t gone for power rather than placement.

Livi sent on Tom Parkes and switched to a back three as they attempted to find a way back into the game but Celtic – with holding midfielder Tomoki Iwata on for Hatate – looked in control of proceedings.

They were content to concede possession to Livingston but were always a speedy threat on the break, and this was underlined when George was again called into action to block Maeda’s attempt at goal. 

A clever move down the right between O’Riley and Iwata only ended with a last-gasp Livi block, then Oh fired wide from a good position as gaps began to appear in the home rearguard.

Iwata was next to try his luck, with a drive that sailed over the top after Oh’s powerful run in from the left flank.

Livi continued to push and sub Kurtis Guthrie out-muscled Lagerbielke to try and create an opening with five minutes left – but McGregor was alert and snuffed out the danger to Celtic.

The home side almost grabbed a stoppage-time consolation when Bradley’s run and cross fell to Nouble but the frontman tried to be too precise and his effort was blocked.

But the final word was Celtic’s, with Maeda cleverly turning inside Parkes and curling a left-foot drive high into the net as Celtic comfortably took the points back along the M8.

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