Celtic can beat Livingston away from home then. Yes, after years of trying, the Bhoys ran out comfortable 3-1 winners up against David Martindale’s outfit this afternoon.
It’s a win that moves us three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
In truth, many people expected the Bhoys to drop points today. Our rivals were undoubtedly waiting on it.
However, Ange Postecoglou’s team produced an accomplished performance at a key time and look in great shape to maintain their status as title frontrunners in the coming weeks.
What are the big takeaways from today’s match? Here are our big three…
Ange got his Celtic team selection spot on vs Livingston
Today’s starting eleven certainly raised a few eyebrows. There was no Giorgos Giakoumakis. Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate were both benched. Even Josip Juranovic dropped out.
However, Postecoglou got it spot on. Every player who came into the team today made a big contribution, not just generally but in the build-up to goals too.
Daizen Maeda got himself on the scoresheet and worked tirelessly to throttle the home side in their own half. Anthony Ralston battled for everything. Tom Rogic also carried plenty of threat, while James Forrest proved he can still make valuable contributions for the Bhoys.
These were all massive calls from the boss and if they didn’t pay off major questions would have been asked. Full credit then for putting out a team that was finally capable of winning away to Livingston. Trust the process.
Jota responds well to criticism
You can’t deny Jota has spirit. After criticism in recent matches, specifically with some very audible crowd grumbling on Wednesday night, he responded with a beauty of a performance today.
He was arguably the man of the match with his passes, crosses and dribbling terrorising Livingston all afternoon. He was the key to victory in my view.
His pass for James Forrest for our third goal summed up his contribution. That was sublime and well worth watching on the highlight reel again and again.
Hopefully, this is the start of him peaking again. If we can keep him in this form for the remainder of the season then not many teams will be able to cope with him.
The Bitton and McGregor experiment worked
As we’ve been discussing all week, bringing Nir Bitton into the midfield and allowing Callum McGregor to push forward was always a viable route for success today.
It worked well and leaves Postecoglou with yet another tactical option in the middle of the park. He’s not used McGregor much as that dynamic number eight this season, but despite missing a penalty and a golden headed chance I’m not against seeing it again.
Postecoglou will have another midfield option before too long in David Turnbull. It’s actually an embarrassment of riches when you considered we don’t even have two matches a week anymore.
Exciting times are ahead everyone.
In other news, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou lauds crucial behind-the-scenes group.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
