Celtic pressure pleases Ange Postecoglou as Hoops end wait for Livingston win

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou praised his players for “hunting in packs” and putting Livingston under pressure to get their first win in West Lothian for 15 years.

A 3-1 win, Celtic’s first victory at the Tony Macaroni Arena in six matches, restored their three-point lead over Rangers in the cinch Premiership.

The Hoops had not scored in their other two games against Livi this season, but they have now not lost in 29 domestic matches since losing at the same venue in September.

Postecoglou said: “The players knew it was a challenge. They went about it the right way and didn’t shy away from it.

“The boys who came in brought some energy with James (Forrest) and Tom (Rogic), Niro (Bitton) and Tony Ralston. These guys have had three games in a week, so it was important for us to maintain our energy. We set the right tempo and intent from the first minutes.

“That was important. We have spoken about it a lot. We need to be the ones who generate tempo.

“It is hard sometimes when the opposition sit deeper, but as good as were with the ball I thought we were outstanding without it.

“We hunted in packs, we won the ball and we didn’t give them a moment’s rest.

“They are a big side, so if you allow balls into the box then it gives them some threat and our defensive work was excellent.

“Our football when we had the ball was good. We were patient when we needed to be but we could hurt them when we needed to.”

Daizen Maeda headed Celtic ahead from close range in the 17th minute, two minutes after Callum McGregor had missed a penalty, and a Nicky Devlin own goal doubled the lead moments after the second half started.

Forrest fired his first league goal of the season before Andrew Shinnie got a quickfire consolation.

On Forrest,