Celtic vs Livingston; Scottish Premiership
Celtic vs Livingston. Scottish Premiership.
Celtic ParkAttendance58,548.
Celtic 3-0 Livingston: Benjamin Nygren and Johnny Kenny score as Hoops ease to victory amid more fan protests
Report as a much-changed Celtic beat Livingston 3-0; Benjamin Nygren scored a second-half double; Johnny Kenny came off the bench to score his first goal at Celtic Park; the Hoops have won their opening three Premiership games without conceding; Livi remain without a win
Sunday 24 August 2025 00:20, UK
Celtic eased to victory against Livingston to maintain their winning start to another Premiership title defence as the fans again showed their frustration at the Hoops board.
Three goals in the second half saw the visitors' resistance broken, with summer signing Benjamin Nygren netting a double before striker Johnny Kenny scored his first goal at Celtic Park.
Shin Yamada did have the ball in the net before the break only for it to be ruled out for offside, and Jerome Prior produced a brilliant save to deny Hyun-Jun Yang on what was a busy afternoon for the away goalkeeper.
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Frustrated by perceived transfer inactivity in recent weeks, fans chanted 'sack the board' during and after the goalless draw against Kairat Almaty in the first leg of the Champions League play-off in midweek.
The jeers came again as banners which read 'zero ambition', 'neglect team', 'rinse fans' and 'basic board' appeared in one section.
Brendan Rodgers' side now face a crucial trip to Kazakhstan before the first Old Firm of the season against Rangers next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Celtic comfortable but tensions remain
Celtic face a 7000-mile round trip for the second leg against Kairat on Tuesday with £40m awaiting the winners for reaching the league phase of European football's elite club competition.
With one eye on Kazakhstan, Rodgers rang the changes, with only goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, defender Liam Scales - captain for the start - and Nygren remaining.
Just as the Green Brigade section made their feelings about the board known, Yamada knocked a cross from Arne Engels past Prior but the Belgium midfielder was confirmed offside after a VAR check.
Prior made a fabulous save in added time, somehow pushing Yang's powerful header from point-blank range onto the bar, with Livi scrambling the ball to safety and more 'sack the board' chants were heard before half-time.
Celtic Park relaxed somewhat early in the second half when Prior spilled a right-footed drive from Yang straight to Nygren who tapped into the empty net.
In the 58th minute, Rodgers brought on captain Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Daizen Maeda for Luke McCowan, Yamada and Paulo Bernardo.
Prior thwarted Nygren when he broke through but the Sweden forward made no mistake when the 'keeper pushed away a cross from Engels, firing high into the net via the woodwork from 14 yards.
Five minutes later, Maeda set up Kenny, on for Yang, to knock in a third which gave the scoreline solidity, but the rift between fans and board carries on in the background.
Rodgers focused on players he 'values'
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers speaking to Sky Sports News:
"We made a lot of changes in the game and there's been a lot of focus on the players that aren't here and what we need, but today was really about the players that I value that are here.
"It's four domestic games now. We've been really dominant in those games. Today against a side that's very well organised, tough to break down, we did break them down.
"We want to be as fresh as we possibly can going into that [Kairat Almaty] but there's also an opportunity for players today to show that they could maybe be involved and start on Tuesday.
"Overall, I just think with the number of games that you play as a Celtic team, it's to have as fresh as you possibly can. Take in the travel, the game on Tuesday, we want to give everything to get the result.
"Today was really good in a number of ways and I'm really pleased for all the players.
"We started the game quickly which is what we wanted to do. We didn't do that on Wednesday night for whatever reason."
Martindale looking at positives
Livingston boss David Martindale on Sky Sports News:
"This group of players have never come up against an opponent of this calibre.
"It was interesting, I felt the first half was always going to be interesting in terms of how the boys adapted to that.
"You've got to remember that a lot of that group last year were playing in the Championship.
"So I felt they dealt with it really well. So there was a lot of positives throughout the game and I thought they adapted to the level of the opponent really well. Difficult to beat, good structure.
"But I think there were a lot of positives to take from it. That might sound a wee bit silly, coming from a 3-0 defeat, but I think the boys applied themselves really, really well.
"Hopefully we'll learn from that as a group and I'm sure we will."
