2018-08-04: Celtic 3-1 Livingston, SP

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Trivia

• First league game of the season
• Celtic raise the league flag, seven in a row, raised by Danny McGrain.
• Celtic have already played four European Cup games.
• Sevco new manager Stevie Gerrard makes a fool of himself claiming after a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen claiming Scottish Football being biased v Sevco “It’s not just today, I believe it’s been happening for seasons. That’s just my opinion.” That despite only being here for a few weeks, now has made himself look stupid and out of touch, and also stressed.
• Former Celtic striker Scott McDonald has decided to retire. The Australian last played for Dundee United in the Scottish Championship after a spell at Motherwell. Having failed to find a new club for the 2018/19 campaign, the 34-year-old has decided to concentrate on his career in the media. We wish him the best.
• Celtic have agreed a record sponsorship deal with Dafabet. As much as to be congratulated, there is an unease due to the gambling sponsorship.
• Ntcham injury concern, got an ankle knock at the end of the match.
• Rumours: Paddy Roberts to return?
• Reports saying a loan deal to bring Australian winger Daniel Arzani to Celtic should be completed this week (from Man City). Stood out in the recent world cup.
• Denayer to return? Seems to have gone quiet on that rumour front
• Reports: Boyata to Fulham for £9m!

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Celtic 3-1 Livingston: Hoops start eight-in-a-row bid with convincing win

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/celtic-sweat-over-olivier-ntcham-fitness-ahead-of-aek-athens-showdown-1-4778936
Even by pyrotechnical standards, there was an unexpectedly loud crackle to the fireworks that greeted club icon Danny McGrain tugging open the league flag at Celtic Park.

The snap and pop that followed as Brendan Rodgers’ side embarked on their bid bring an eighth consecutive championship to Glasgow’s east end was also of a zinging variety beyond what might have been the case in so one-sided a contest.

There was no sense of Celtic being in any way distracted or playing within themselves as a consequence of the far more diverting encounter that awaits on Wednesday when AEK Athens coming calling for the Champions League third round qualifier. Rodgers spoke afterwards of the “intensity” exhibited, with no sense that Celtic may tire of beating up the little guy in the domestic domain.

Kenny Miller would have cursed that fact. As his team were snapped by Celtic, one pop to be heard could have been the bubble bursting that he might have ensconced himself over combining playing duties with his first management role.

The West Lothian club won’t stand or fall through what befalls them against Celtic.

However, their inability to offer even a germ of resistance does nothing to dispel the impression the club have been elevated above their station following scarcelessly credible back-to-back promotions.

The visitors had no answer to Tom Rogic who galloped, pirouetted and strutted with all the grace and precision of a dressage champion. The Australian even claimed himself that rarest of rewards in the form of a headed goal to see Celtic off and running. He did so courtesy of a neat cross flipped over the from the left by Johnny Hayes, making his first appearance since he suffered a leg break at Dens Park on Boxing day.

Rogic tapped the top off his head as he wheeled away in celebration of his looping effort over Liam Kelly in eight minutes. Livingston spent much of the the afternoon scratching theirs as to how to quell his attacking effervescence.

“He was excellent,” Rodgers said of the playmaker who is one of the club’s late returnees following participation in the World Cup finals.

“That has been building up for the last two or three weeks. He finds good space, creates and scores goals. We looked dangerous in the final third, our speed of play was excellent especially on the back of a Champions League game.

“Our intensity was very good, Tom was one of a number of great performances.”

Celtic regularly swamped their opponents in that final third and Rogic’s central role in doing so was key to their second of the afternoon approaching the half hour.

Its genesis was a Livingston corner cleared by Jozo Simunovic. James Forrest then nodded it into the path of Rogic who sprinted across the halfway line as Celtic found themselves with four players on three.

He slipped it out to Olivier Ntcham who swept it across the face of the box where Odsonne Edouard was on hand to tap in.

An array of efforts that brought goalline clearances and last-gasp blocks were fashioned before and after they brought their tally to three goals for the afternoon after Declan Gallagher was adjudged to have barged Callum McGregor over in the 50th minute.

Ntcham converted before in stoppage time sustaining a knock in the lead-up to Livingston earning a consolation, Scott Robinson darting in to the box to meet a free-kick ahead of Craig Gordon and flip it over the keeper before stroking it in to the empty net.

The goal came a quarter of an hour after Miller had withdrawn himself from the fray, his one notable contribution before that a booking that followed the 38-year-old catching Mikael Lustig with a flying elbow at the end of the first period. His only other role across the afternoon was to give the Celtic support a focus for nasty – and sectarian, by the definition of “Orange” in terms that Order – barracking.

The Livingston player/manager was not disheartened by events, however.

“You’ll see teams come here and, as in the past, they’ll go two or three nil down and just chuck it. Three can quickly become six,” he said.

“But I thought the lads stuck to the task very well, fought to the end, gave everything and left it all on the pitch. I’m really proud of them for how they stuck to the task.

“It’s in this team, that work ethic, that togetherness. It’s just trying to harness it and build on it.

“I’d said in the build up that by 5pm today the lads would’ve been left in no doubt over what this league’s about and what the step up is.

“That’s the best team we’re going to play, at their own home and when they are unfurling the flag.

“It was a real test and we will have learned a lot from today. I certainly did. Everything I believed was in this team is in it. I’m really proud.”

BBC
Celtic began their Scottish Premiership title defence with a comfortable win over promoted Livingston.
The champions eased ahead after eight minutes through Tom Rogic’s looping header from a Jonny Hayes cross.
Odsonne Edouard turned in Olivier Ntcham’s scuffed shot after 26 minutes, and Ntcham added a penalty five minutes after the break.
Scott Robinson scored a consolation for Livingston with the final touch of the match after slack defending.
That goal was not enough to prevent player-manager Kenny Miller suffering defeat in his first league match in charge.
And the outcome was not sufficient to put Celtic top of the table, with Brendan Rodgers’ side behind Hearts on goals scored.You could have written the script. The Double Treble Scottish champions, on flag day, against newly promoted Livingston. It had mismatch written all over it, and that is exactly what it turned out to be.
It took just eight minutes for the home side to kick-start their league goal tally and it was Rogic, a man known for the spectacular, with the simplest of headers from close range after an inch-perfect cross from Hayes.
It was a matter of when, and not if, for the second. Twenty five minutes was the answer. Celtic sliced the visitors wide open on the counter-attack after a rare foray forward.
Ntcham, Rogic and Edouard linked up superbly and it was Edouard who had the ball laid at his feet for one of the easiest goals he will score.
The third came from the spot shortly after the break. Callum McGregor was bundled over by Declan Gallagher, and after referee Nick Walsh pointed to the penalty spot, Ntcham slotted it away perfectly.
The visitors did not concede again, despite Leigh Griffiths, on his first outing of the season, hitting the post as Celtic remained utterly dominant.
The polish was smudged slightly for Rodgers’ men right at the end when Robinson tapped in after a mix-up in the home side’s defence. That will annoy the Celtic boss, who now turns his attention to Wednesday’s Champions League visit of AEK Athens.
Relatively speaking, the scoreline will be palatable for a Livingston side who must have been fearful of a full-scale thumping. Other teams have suffered much more at the hands of the champions and, given that, there was relief mixed with disappointment in the voice of Miller afterwards.

‘Slick, mesmerising & keen to make a point’ – analysisWhat will have pleased Rodgers in particular will be the drive and energy he witnessed from his players. Of course, you would have expected that on the opening day, but even when the match looked over as a contest, Celtic continued to swarm forward.
Too often last season the champions won matches by the odd goal with tempo at home sometimes an issue – relatively speaking.
When asked beforehand about what keeps his players hungry, Rodgers pointed to a need to entertain a support that now expects more than just a victory. His players gave him what he wanted.
Passing was slick and movement at times, mesmerising. Ominously for the rest of Scottish football, the Celtic players looked keen to make a point. They pass up every opportunity to discuss the possibility of a treble treble, but if they continue to perform like this, the questions will keep coming.’We need to be more streetwise’ – reaction

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: “For large parts we were outstanding. It’s always difficult against an honest team like Livingston who are sat in.
“I thought we scored three very good goals and the only disappointment was right at the end. We need to be a bit more streetwise in that moment
Livingston player-manager Kenny Miller: “The goals we lose are very disappointing. A free header in our box, the second goal is a breakaway from our corner. The penalty, on first look, looks very soft.

“The players didn’t let their heads drop, they stuck to the game plan and worked tirelessly. Everything we know about this group was shown today. The grit, the determination.”