Celtic are back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership after comfortably beating Livingston by a 2-0 goal margin at Celtic Park on Saturday.
Kyogo Furuhashi was on the scoresheet to open the scoring seconds after the half-time interval, before Liam Scales doubled the advantage from the corner a few minutes later.
There’s a long way to go for this Brendan Rodgers team but it was undoubtedly a much brighter performance compared to recent fixtures against Hearts and Kilmarnock. It felt far more like Celtic on and off the pitch, with the ultras section again full.
What are the big talking points coming out of the match? Here are three of ours.
Brendan Rodgers gets the desired reaction
After last weekend’s Hearts match, the Celtic boss was scathing about his players and told reporters he wasn’t even surprised with the result.
An important debrief then took place at Lennoxtown, so all eyes were on the performance today and whether or not the manager can continue to get a tune out of these players. There were understandable concerns they had completely checked out.
However, it’s clear that Rodgers does know how to push their buttons and get a reaction out of them. The team started impressively with attacking intent, then eventually found the goals required. Celtic now have a clean slate to push on and find some consistency.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Livingston are the worst team in the league so far this season. But Celtic went about their task with the right attitude today and got the job done with significant pressure on their shoulders. That’s pleasing, regardless of the opposition.
Luis Palma steps up for Celtic
Summer signing Luis Palma registered his seventh and eighth assists of the season for the Bhoys, providing that much-needed bit of creativity that Celtic have lacked recently.
Kyogo was lurking to divert a fired ball into the box and whether it was a shot from Palma, or a shot, it was the key moment that unlocked the Livingston defence.
Then, he fired in a devilish corner to the near post for Liam Scales to divert home. Celtic have really struggled to score directly from set-pieces in recent seasons, so it was pleasing to see that one come off.
Palma has had as many questions asked about him in recent weeks as anyone in the team, but the Honduran added that touch of class today and hopefully, it’s a sign of more consistent contributions moving forward.
Massive goal for Kyogo
Kyogo Furuhashi had only scored one goal in his last 12 matches for Celtic coming into today. The failure to utilise him as a goal threat in recent weeks has been a key problem for the Bhoys.
However, he was lively in the early stages today and showed that striking sharpness to get on the scoresheet for his ninth of the season in total.
That should fill him with confidence heading into matches against Dundee, Rangers and St Mirren. Celtic will need him to find his scoring boots again before the winter break to pick up the wins we want, most likely.
You could see what the goal meant to him in the celebration. He really wanted and needed that effort. Now the Japanese forward and Celtic need to kick on.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers gets detailed as he addresses potential for Celtic formation change.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
