Livingston boss David Martindale confessed Celtic were well worth the three points as the Lions fell to a 3-0 loss at Parkhead last night. But he admitted they did themselves no favours with slack defending.
A rampant Celts bagged three goals before the break despite having been frustrated for the opening half-hour.
You are reading: Livingston boss admits Celtic worthy winners as Lions’ unbeaten run comes to an end
They finally opened the scoring on 29 minutes as Greg Taylor fired an effort across Shamal George.
One quickly became two with the hosts doubling their advantage shortly after in slightly bizarre fashion as Ayo Obileye’s attempted clearance bounced of Daizen Maeda and into the net.
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Bruce Anderson rattled the woodwork in a rare foray up the park for the visitors before Kyogo Furuhashi made it three in first-half injury-time.
The Japanese striker netted his 21st goal of the campaign after latching onto a Matt O’Riley ball.
The Lions were able to keep the scoring down in the second-half but they never threatened to find a way back into the game as their six match unbeaten run was brought to an end.
Martindale commented: “Celtic were worthy winners, to be honest. I thought they played some nice football at times.
“It was a really difficult game for us to lay a glove on them. But I did think we gifted them two goals. The second and third goals we’ve got to do a lot better defensively.
“They’ve got international players. I’ve seen them do that to Real Madrid – they were probably the better team in that game for 60 minutes.”
He added: “You’ve got to take your hat off to Ange. What he’s done at Celtic, he’s done it incredibly well.
“It’s all right having money. It’s how you spend it and then it’s how you coach the players you bring in.”
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