Three burning issues as Celtic make mockery of Livingston 'hoodoo'

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou dismissed talk of a Tony Macaroni hex over his team prior to the game, despite the club failing to taste victory on their last five visits to West Lothian, a run stretching back to 2007.

He said he wouldn’t be wearing his lucky socks to combat the supposed hoodoo, but even he might have been regretting that call when Callum McGregor’s penalty came crashing back off the post in the first half.

Celtic didn’t have to wait long to make the breakthrough though, and in truth, it was always coming given the visitors’ domination of the game from the off.

Celtic starved Livingston of possession and then suffocated them on the rare occasions they did have the ball, overcoming all of the problems that Livi normally pose for them.

The thousands of Celtic fans who packed out the stadium would have been nervy prior to kick-off given the horror shows they have witnessed here down the years, but their team that put on a stellar show for them and the result was never really in doubt at any time.

James shows his class to win battle of Forrest brothers with Alan

Alan Forrest has lived in the shadow of his more famous brother for years now, but this season there is little doubt about who the form sibling his been as James’s injury woes have curtailed his impact at Celtic under Ange Postecoglou.

Forrest Senior proved the old maxim here though that form is temporary and class is permanent, scoring a brilliant third goal for Celtic and generally looking much more like his old self.

It was his first of the campaign, meaning he has now scored in 13 consecutive Scottish top-flight seasons, but more importantly the sharpness in the final third that has been missing from his game of late was back in abundance.

The winger was a constant menace on the right, while his brother in the black struggled to make much of an impact in the game for Livingston.

Forrest Junior may have a bright future ahead, but his older brother showed here there is still plenty of life left in him yet.

Daizen Maeda getting in where it matters

The striker has come in for a little bit of stick of late for failing to provide a cutting edge to the Celtic attack, but he showed his poacher’s instinct here to open the scoring, getting in at the back post to nod home after Max Stryjek had saved Carl Starfelt’s header.

Maeda’s energy and work-rate have never been in question, but he also seems to have a handy knack of popping up in such positions. The five goals he has scored for Celtic now seem to have come from a combined distance of around 15 yards.

The challenge for the 24-year-old now is to get in where it counts on a more regular basis. If he can do that – allied to his energy and pressing from the front – he may prove a really useful acquisition by Postecoglou.