Under-fire Lennon will draw no comfort
Pressure on boss intensifies with 20 points gap to league leaders Rangers
NEIL Lennon’s angry rebuke of Celtic’s Dubai critics failed to provoke a response from his players as they were held to another damaging 2-2 draw by a second-string Livingston outfit.
The furious Parkhead boss let rip on Monday as he claimed his club had been hit with a “barrage of absolute hypocrisy” in the wake of their controversial winter training camp.
If it was designed to show his players he was still up for the fight of salvaging their 10 in a row dreams, it did not work.
Celtic did battle back from Ciaron Brown’s opener with goals from Mohammed Elyounoussi and Nir Bitton. But for the fourth time in 2021 already, they failed to get the job done.
Jay Emmanuel-thomas levelled for David Martindale’s impressive Lions — who remain unbeaten in his 10-game tenure — while Celtic finished the game clinging on for a draw after seeing captain Scott Brown sent off five minutes after coming on.
Celtic find themselves 20 points behind runaway leaders Rangers with two games in hand and their title hopes surely dead.
Lennon was back in the dugout after he and 13 players were forced to isolate after the positive test Christopher Jullien returned following that UAE jaunt, while Vasilis Barkas, Kristoffer Ajer, Ryan Christie, Elyounoussi and Leigh Griffiths were also welcomed back from quarantine.
Even without a raft of regulars, Livi were still able to take the lead after 15 minutes.
Shane Duffy barged over Jack Hamilton to hand the hosts a free-kick on halfway. As Julien Serrano pumped the ball towards the box, Ajer took his eyes off Ciaron Brown for a second. By the time he looked back, the Livi defender had headed home.
Celtic did mount a recovery, with Griffiths’ corner after 28 minutes bringing the equaliser as Elyounoussi clipped a finish off the underside of the bar.
And 10 minutes later they were in front. David Turnbull’s corner was cleared only as far as Ismaila Soro, who fed Callum Mcgregor. He slid the ball to Bitton, who found the top corner.
Celtic were pegged back on the hour mark as Emmanuel-thomas prodded home.
Scott Brown was off with seven minutes left after being dismissed for swinging at Kebia.
LIVINGSTON: Mccrorie (Robinson 75mins), Serrano, Lawson, Guthrie, Brown, Forrest (Kabia 58mins), Fitzwater, Mcmillan, Pittman, Hamilton (Reilly 58mins), Emmanuel-thomas (Devlin 67mins). Subs not used: Sibbald, Mullin, Taylor-sinclair, Pignatiello, Maley. CELTIC: Barkas, Taylor, Ajer (Frimpong 78mins), Bitton, Duffy, Soro (Brown 78mins), Christie, Elyounoussi, Turnbull (Johnston 82mins), Mcgregor, Griffiths (Klimala 70mins). Subs not used: Ajeti, Rogic, Bain, Welsh, Laxalt. Referee: William Collum Man of the match: Emmanuel-thomas Match rating: 8/10