Starved Kyogo back in Celtic business as Green Brigade return sees Livingston wilt inside cauldron – 3 talking points

The Green Brigade returned Celtic Park and their team were back to winning ways after wearing down Livingston.

The Parkhead atmosphere was lifted several notches with the truce between the fan group and the club – and there was more intensity about the Hoops on the pitch as well. Two goals in six minutes after half-time sealed it, with Kyogo Furushashi ending his seven-match goal drought for the opener before a Liam Scales header ended any Livingston resistance.

The champions could have added more but it was more a case of getting back on track and lifting some of the recent gloom around the place following bruising back-to-back defeats to Killie and Hearts. No such luck for Livi, mind you. They arrived with hope but it was another week and another defeat and the Lions need to find their bite sharpish.

Rodgers demanded his side start with more intensity – and he got his wish. Celts were sharper but what he didn’t get was an early goal. There was constant pressure and numerous chances, but the opener proved evasive.

Some of it was down to poor finishing, but a lot was down to heroic defending. Tom Parkes, in particular, made three sensational blocks to keep the Hoops at bay. He denied Paulo Bernardo after keeper Jack Hamilton had palmed out Luis Palma’s dipping free kick and then get twice managed to get a toe in ahead of Daizen Maeda when the Japan star looked certain to score.

Long before then Matt O’Riley somehow managed to divert a Palma corner kick that landed in front of him away from goal and James Penrice smuggled one off the line from Kyogo, but Livi were earning some of their fortune at the back.

Their luck ran out though when Parkes paid the price for another block – this time with his head when he got in the