Kyogo Furuhashi scored his 21st goal of the season as Celtic produced one of the most comprehensive football results of the weekend in the Scottish Premiership. Taylor’s goal was the best of the lot, beating Shamal George with a left-footed shot to put the game on even terms (29), and Maeda then took advantage of a careless Ayo Obileye clearing to score a lucky second (33). By eluding the offside trap and latching onto Matt O’Riley’s pass, Kyogo concluded a particularly dominant first half by purposefully sending the ball in the far corner after swerving one way and then the other (45+2). The team led by Ange Postecoglou keeps a nine-point advantage at the top of the standings, while Rangers, their closest competitor, defeated Hearts by a score of three.
In just 33 first-half minutes, Celtic had the game in hand, proving once more how their unmatched dominance at home is fueling their 53rd title bid. Under Postecoglou, Celtic is still unbeaten at Celtic Park in the league. Although Livingston did show flashes of life when Bruce Anderson struck the woodwork from a tight angle, the hosts’ first-half assault meant the contest was all but over by the halfway point. The margin of victory should have been larger. Before Obileye’s attempted clearing off Maeda’s face and over the line, Taylor opened the attack with a perfectly hit effort that nestled neatly in the corner of George’s net.
Throughout an entirely dominant first quarter, Celtic continued to stifle their opponents, with Kyogo putting the finishing touches on a vicious goal-scoring performance. He deflected Jack Fitzwater’s approaches by deftly cutting and changing directions, then aimed and rifled across the goal for his 21st goal of a season that had already been spectacular. In the second half, Celtic continued to pose questions, particularly via Jota and Kyogo, while Livingston seemed content to merely contain the damage.
“We did well, in my opinion, tonight. We had a great start to the game; we anticipated having a lot of possession, but I felt like we were constantly probing and posing questions with it,” Celtic head coach Ange Postecoglou said. “Livingston didn’t really open up in the second half, so it wasn’t like we were going to get a tonne of opportunities. I still believed we had good control over it; we just never managed to score.”
For more football results, click here
