Celtic and the curious disconnect - how Livingston win continued recent trend

There is a curious disconnect at work with Celtic.

Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates after scoring what proved to be Celtic's winner against Livingston. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Even as Ange Postecolgou’s men find themselves in a position that could hardly be peachier – the 2-1 win at home to Livingston earning them a 10th straight league win restoring their nine point lead at the top the table – Celtic’s latest success followed a recent trend evidenced either side of the World Cup break. They were utterly dominant for long periods but failed to convert this into a doing. As with the previous 1-0 victory at Aberdeen, their chance-count and possession-count - 23 and 78% - were of the sort that tend to precipitate drubbings. Instead, for the fifth straight league outing, the three points for Celtic were not absolutely assured until referee Euan Anderson sounded the full-time whistle.

The home crowd placed the blame for that squarely at the official, who they called for everything in the closing stages. A result - inevitably - of VAR involvement after Liel Abada had the ball in the net on the 72nd minute for a goal that would have made it 3-1, and settled the contest. Anderson instantly gave it, even though the Israeli looked well offside when the ball was initially played forward. The complication was that before it reached the winger, it was touched by centre-back Morgan Boyes under-pressure from the back-peddling Abada. The referee was instructed to consult his monitor as the decision on the legitimacy of the strike became subjective. A consequence of the laws decreeing a deliberate attempt by the defender to play the ball would have negated Abada’s initial offside status.

Anderson seemed correct with his final judgement, and that ensured a curiously nervy end to the encounter for Postecoglou’s men that should have been avoided after they fashioned countless opportunities in the opening spell. Only for the deadlock breaker midway through the half to come from Ayo Obileye shinning into his own net a whipped in right-sided cross by the standout Abada.

Celtic seemed home and hosed on the stroke of the interval courtesy of a sparkling strike. A sumptuous diagonal pass from Anthony Ralston - later forced off with injury - allowed Abada to drill in for Kyogo Furuhashi. In the blink of an eye, the striker met the ball at the front post and flashed it high into the net. Immediately from the restart, and in the second minute of added time, Nicky Devlin was somehow able to bundle his way through, despite the close attentions of a posse of Celtic players in the box, and poke wide of Joe Hart diving at his feet. That madcap back-and-forth summed up a strange old night.

Celtic will point to a couple of smart saves from keeper Ivan Konovalov - making only his second league appearance for David Martindale’s men - for making the confrontation more awkward for them than it ought to have been. Their own untidiness, especially in the final third, was more pertinent to the West Lothian men proving once more a difficult nut to crack for the Scottish champions. However, Postecoglou could point to the fact that simply seeing out the win represented progress. Livingston’s last visit to Glasgow’s east end concluded with a scoreless draw. However, that was way back in October last year. And since then no Scottish team since has been able to keep a clean sheet at Celtic Park. Meaning Celtic’s continued prolifigacy can be considered small potatoes.