Martin O’Neill marked his 200th Scottish Premiership game in charge of Celtic with another dramatic late win, this time against Livingston.
Celtic looked well up for the occasion and knocked on the Livingston door from the off.
It took more than 10 shots for them to finally beat Jerome Prior as Marcelo Saracchi grabbed his first goal for the club with a shot from the edge of the box, which had a helping hand from a deflection.
Arne Engels sadly had to be substituted in the first half due to a suspected thigh issue, which will be addressed by O’Neill after the game.
Hitting the self-destruct button has been a common theme for Celtic this season and Reo Hatate decided to push that button by gifting the visitors a penalty when he fouled Robbie Muirhead in the box.
Muirhead dispatched from the spot and gave Kasper Schmeichel no chance.
In an attempt to take the game to the visitors, Celtic switched to a back three formation, after a sluggish second-half display, but in stoppage time it was debutant Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who popped up with a beautiful curling effort to keep the Hoops’ title hopes alive.
With that, here is how 67 Hail Hail rated the performance of each individual player. You can also have your say on the man of the match by signing up to TalkingPoints for free.
Who is your Celtic man of the match after the win against Livingston?
Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images Celtic player ratingsKasper Schmeichel – 6
Made a great save early doors when it was 0-0 and will be so frustrated by Hatate letting him down with the foul.
Julian Araujo – 6
Love watching his tenacious workrate up and down the pitch. Can do a bit of everything in defence and attack, making him a real asset.
Auston Trusty – 6
A very, very comfortable evening for the defender tonight, who would have felt this was more like a training exercise.
Liam Scales – 6
Spent more time on the edge of the Livingston box than he did in his own half which tells you a lot about the sort of game it was.
Marcelo Saracchi – 7
A brilliant first goal for the club. Yet to see him have a bad game for Celtic so far and is the perfect rotation option with Kieran Tierney.
Callum McGregor (C) – 6
Had a fair few opportunities in front of goal tonight but was met by a wall of yellow as Livingston defended with bodies on the line.
Arne Engels – 6
A real shame to see him come off due to injury. O’Neill is a big fan of the midfielder and hopefully it won’t be anything too serious.
Benjamin Nygren – 4
A quiet evening during a time when you would hope your top goalscorer could turn up in big games like this.
Sebastian Tounekti – 6
He looked brighter on the right hand side, playing on the wing of his preferred foot and took on
Daizen Maeda – 5
Was barely in the game and didn’t offer much at all.
Tomas Cvancara – 4
Not his best game in a Celtic shirt. Had a couple of chances that he should have really buried.
Your instant reaction to ANOTHER LATE WIN
Is the title race still on?
SubstitutesReo Hatate – 4
Second time in a matter of weeks that the midfielder has made a poorly-timed challenge that has caused Celtic problems. His discipline is a real issue and the reason why he doesn’t start for Celtic.
Junior Adamu – 5
Some good movement in place but wasn’t given much in the way of clear-cut chances.
Kieran Tierney – 7
Looked to be a real difference maker when he came on in the second half and created more than some of Celtic’s supposed attacking outlets did.
James Forrest – 5
Tried to offer something different out wide and caused some problems.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8
Looked a bit rusty but that was to be expected due to the lack of minutes he has had in recent months but showed his class when Celtic needed it most!
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