Bhoys Brown and out as skipper sees red
LIVINGSTON...2 CELTIC ............ 2
NOTHING sums up Celtic’s season of woe more than the loss of two more points to Livingston’s second string. Captain Scott Brown was shown a red card five minutes after taking to the pitch as a late substitute, leaving the bedraggled ten men to traipse from a snow-laden surface with their tails between their legs once more.
Now 20 points behind arch rivals Rangers, Celtic find themselves trapped in a nuclear winter, a long way from the sunshine of Dubai.
As if things weren’t bad enough, this was the first time since 2000 — when Kenny Dalglish was in charge — that the club have gone four league games without a win.
In a week when Neil Lennon took aim at the club’s critics, the finger of blame for a pitiful season will once more turn in his direction. His position looks increasingly untenable.
After falling behind to an early Ciaron Brown goal, Celtic rallied. Goals from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Nir Bitton turned things around. An equaliser from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas after an hour came from nowhere, yet pitched the champions back into a subterranean nightmare.
Sent on as part of a double substitution, skipper Brown’s red card came for raising his hands to fellow sub Jaze Kabia.
After seven wins in 22 games, the wheels are careering off Celtic’s season, one calamity giving way to another.
Kudos to Livingston. The SFA’s Professional Game Board will rule on the fit and proper status of David Martindale before Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final with St Mirren. If it’s a purely moral decision then the rights and wrongs of having a man convicted of serious drug offences at the helm of a Premiership football club will divide opinion sharply. If his impact as a manager carries any weight at all, it should be a foregone conclusion.
Livingston entered this match unbeaten in their last eight league games, nine in all competitions.
Not many teams have the luxury of resting seven players for a game against Celtic. Yet while Martindale left out the likes of Efe Ambrose and Marvin Bartley with the club’s first Hampden appearance in 17 years in mind, it felt like a comment on the current status of the champions. As a club — as a team — Celtic have barely stopped shooting themselves in the foot.
It’s a testament to the home side that no one was surprised to see them take the lead with their first effort on target after 15 minutes.
One of the many calamitous themes of this Celtic season has been their inability to defend set-pieces. When Shane Duffy clattered needlessly into the back of Jack Hamilton 35 yards from the Celtic goal, there was an inevitability to how the movie ended.
Julien Serrano speared the ball into the area for full-back Brown to peel off Kris Ajer and Bitton and bullet an unstoppable downward effort into the corner of the net. His first goal of the season was a goal the champions had lost before. Many times.
The amateur psychologists sat back in their armchairs and watched. How Celtic responded would say much for Lennon’s grip on the team. His grip on his own future in general.
The visitors had a claim for a penalty after nine minutes when Elyounoussi was cleared out by keeper Robby McCrorie as he headed a David Turnbull free-kick over the bar. Celtic claims for a penalty were half-hearted, but fruitless. Referee Willie Collum didn’t want to know.
It took time for Elyounoussi to plot his revenge. But he did so in stunning fashion. Aside from a Leigh Griffiths’ shot slashed wide of the post, Celtic weren’t offering a great deal in attack. They needed a flash of inspiration. It came after 28 minutes when Griffiths floated an inviting corner into the area and Elyounoussi volleyed the ball with his sidefoot into the top corner of the net off the underside of the bar. A stunning piece of technique, Celtic were level.
The goal was the spur the champions needed. They claimed the lead within five minutes after delightful play from Callum McGregor.
Fed a square ball on the 18-yard line by Ismaila Soro, the Scotland international shaped to shoot. As Livingston’s defence raced out to close him down, McGregor played a beautifully weighted disguised pass to Bitton, standing unmarked ten yards from goal.
Looking suspiciously offside, the Israeli took his time before striking the ball into the corner past the scrambling McCrorie.
Celtic should have put the game to bed in the final move of the first half. A quick, concise breakaway saw Turnbull pick out Ajer racing through the middle.
A bit more composure and the defender would have put Celtic 3-1 up at half-time.
McCrorie’s vital block kept the home team in the hunt as snow began to drift down on the Tony Macaroni Arena. Celtic set out to kill the game after the restart. Full-backs Ajer and Greg Taylor posed a threat with their running, less so with their final ball. A one-two between McGregor and Ryan Christie promised much in attack, but Ajer’s final cross for Elyounoussi was too long. As the snow became heavy, lying on a treacherous pitch, Livingston’s fringe players struggled to gain a foothold in the game. Yet a double change saw Gavin Reilly and Kabia take to the field after 58 minutes. And, with their first attempt on goal of the second half, the home team drew level. It arrived within two minutes of the double change, opening goalscorer Brown skipping clear of Christie and firing a cut back across the face of goal. It escaped the Celtic defence, but not Emmanuel-Thomas, the giant attacker slotting low past the helpless Vasilis Barkas from ten yards for 2-2.
With this Celtic defence, an opponent has no need to launch attack after attack. One or two efforts on target really is all it takes. As the snow tumbled down, it could have been worse for Celtic, only for Kabia’s fizzing effort to zing past Barkas and wide of the post.