Another weekends action done and it was actually quite a good one for the men in Hoops.
Neil Lennon appeared to have thrown another prematch selection and tactical curveball into the mix by ditching the two upfront that we’d reverted back to for the previous weekend’s encounter with Ross County up at Dingwall by benching star man Odsonne Edouard with Albian Ajeti leading the line on his lonesome though it later came to light that French Eddy had picked up a muscle strain so actually just wasn’t being risked.
This meant both Ryan Christie and Olivier Ntcham started in midfield beside McGregor and Brown with Greg Taylor and Jeremie Frimpong deployed as wing-backs whilst Elhamed replaced the injured Chris Jullien in the back three alongside Duffy and Ajer.
We conceded a penalty on 15 mins and to be honest you have to have sympathy for Kris Ajer the man who was responsible for it. The big Norwegian centreback slid in to block a Scott Tiffoney cross in the penalty box and it came off his right hand. Yes, it was technically a penalty but I’m not sure where else a player in such a position is meant to put their hands and it definitely wasn’t intentional.
What made it worse was that literally less than a minute before it up the other end a Ryan Christie effort at goal was kept out via the arm of Livi defender Ciaron Brown but truth be told that would have been even harsher than the Ajer one.
Anyway, ex-Rangers man Jason Holt smashed it into the net despite Vasilios Barkas’s getting a hand to it and the West Lothian club had an unlikely lead.
Thankfully it didn’t last long as Callum McGregor smashed us back onto equal terms on 20 mins via a slight deflection off of the back of defender Nicky Devlin and three minutes after that McGregor fed Taylor on the wing who crossed beautifully for Chrisite to finish at the near post to make it 2-1.
You had a feeling we could put them to the sword thereafter but we had to wait until the 52nd minute for that man Ajeti to deliver the third with a sensational first time finish past visiting keeper Robby McCrorie after a lovely through ball from Chrisite.
Frimpong who had an ineffective afternoon nearly made it four but was closed down by the keeper and it all looked like it was fizzling out at 3-1 until left-back Julien Serrano – on loan from Monaco – strode forward and played a one-two with Holt that completely took the entire Celtic defence midfield out before finishing with a 30-yard howitzer past Barkas that gave him no chance.
Yes, 3-2 looks like a close match but it really wasn’t with Livi’s two goals a combination of fortune and an undeniable piece of skill that you just have to tip your cap at.
It also took us back to the top of the table that is until Rangers squared off with Hibs at 12pm the following day in a match that could have gone either way but eventually finished 2-2 meaning that the Govan side remain top with a one-point advantage though having played a game more.
Rangers had of course gone into the encounter having kept a record seven consecutive clean sheets but that was ended via strikes from Drey Wright and a header from Christian Doidge either side of goals from Alfredo Morelos and Scott Arfield.
So the pressure is right back on the men from Govan who dropped points for the second time in their opening eight games and the result also keeps Hibs in the hunt who sit just behind both Glasgow teams on seventeen points after an impressive start to the season.
The match also had the added entrainment of both Rangers manager and captain James Tavernier not being able to cope with the antics of Hibs young defender Ryan Porteous resulting in both suffering post match breakdowns whilst former Gers striker Kris Boyd was apoplectic with rage in the Sky punditry section at the apparent blatant offsideness in the build-up to the Hibs equaliser.
Co-analyst Andy Walker casually pointed out that it was about six inches offside and that they had the benefit of slow motion replays and various camera angles but by that time Boydy was already tucked into a bag of monster munch and certain he was right.
Now both ourselves and Rangers along with Motherwell and Aberdeen must prepare for more European action as all four Scottish teams enter the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League on Thursday night.
We have to go to Latvia and the capital to face the countries reigning champions Riga FC who just eeked past San Marino’s Tre Fiori 1-0 in the last round and are unbeaten in their domestic league. I’ll give them a full preview on Wednesday but I’ll confirm right now that this is definitely a team we should be beating and with something to spare.
Meanwhile, Rangers visit Holland to play Willem II, Motherwell are in Israel to face our old sparring partners Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Aberdeen are in Portugal to face a Sporting Lisbon side which will likely be depleted by Covid-19 to such an extent the game might not even happen with ten of their first team already sidelined along with their manager and other members of the coaching staff.
Domestically we entertain Hibs next Sunday in what will be a great chance to lay down a marker against a team who proved to be the equal of Rangers yesterday.
A big week ahead with the games coming thick and fast which will be a theme for the entire season.
Fingers crossed it’s another productive one.
Here are Saturday’s goals:
....Always A Tim! 