Celtic’s lead over Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership remains at nine points after comfortable 3-0 wins for both sides of the Glasgow divide.
All three of Celtic’s goals over Livingston came before half-time as Ange Postecoglou’s men took another step towards retaining their title.
Greg Taylor’s drive opened the scoring before the ball rebounded off Daizen Maeda from an attempted clearance and into the net.
The goal was described as “lucky”, something Postecoglou, who was described as “a lucky man” by Rangers’ Michael Beale, certainly did not agree with.
“You love that word don’t you?” he said.
“It’s just so easy. How many runs does Daizen make in a game? It was a product of is hard work. Anyone who watches Daizen sees he’s constantly making runs and constantly in those areas.
“There were a couple of times he lacked a bit of composure but he’s always there – that’s why he gets his goals. I’ve known him for a while now and he always get goals.
“Sometimes he gets goals which people will say, for want of a better word, fortuitous. But on the back of him just working his backside off every time we get the ball. He gets his rewards for it.”
Kyogo Furuhashi then extended his lead as the league’s top scorer in first-half stoppage time for his 21st goal of the season.
Postecoglou was full of praise for the Japanese striker.
“He is a quality player, he is always a threat,” said the former Australia boss. “He has composure in his finishing, passion and energy and his appetite to work on everything makes us a better team.”
Newcastle advance to League Cup Final | 01:58
BIZARRE SELECTION CALL TURNS KUOL’S FIRST START INTO ‘NIGHTMARE’
Elsewhere, Rangers ended Hearts’ 10-game unbeaten run with a dominant display at Tynecastle.
Alfredo Morelos scored twice for Michael Beale’s men and saw another two goals ruled out for offside.
Malik Tillman was also on target as Rangers extended Beale’s unbeaten start in charge to 11 games.
Garang Kuol played 46 minutes in his first European football start, although the Socceroos prodigy was played primarily as a central midfielder before briefly being moved to striker.
It was a move that had The Scotsman’s Alan Pattullo puzzled, writing that the call “backfired”.
“The Australian forward, a huge prospect signed on loan from Newcastle United, was playing out of position on the right and looked lightweight in the extreme,” he wrote.
Hearts coach Robbie Neilson explained the thinking behind that decision post-game, adding that missed opportunities hurt his side in the defeat.
“We kept the same formation, we went a bit more attack-minded in the middle,” he said.
“The attacking was probably the poorest part of it. We didn’t connect our passes or get forward. We had a couple of wee chances we didn’t take.”
It meant that Kuol’s first start was spoiled, according to BBC Sport Scotland’s Martin Watt.
“Their attacking ambitions were quickly nullified and the midfield was overrun as Garang Kuol’s first start – in an unfamiliar midfield position – turned into a nightmare,” he wrote.
