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Celtic recovered from successive Scottish Premiership losses to see off stubborn Livingston with a quick one-two at the start of the second half.
Kyogo Furuhashi ended a seven-game sequence without scoring with a close-range finish and Liam Scales added a splendid header. Luis Palma provided smart crosses for both.
It was a one-sided contest from the first whistle to last, with goalkeeper Jack Hamilton keeping the score down and Celtic opening up a five-point lead over Rangers.
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The Ibrox side, who have two games in hand visit Motherwell on Sunday and the year will end with an Old Firm derby at Celtic Park.
Livingston, five points adrift at the foot of the table, are now without a win in 10 top flight outings and have scored just twice in that run.
Seeking a response after suffering back-to-back league defeats for the first time in a decade, Celtic were out of the blocks quickly.
The hosts were swarming forward but Livingston deployed a deep, collective block, making it extremely congested in their penalty area.
There were first-half openings for Matt O'Riley, Kyogo and Daizen Maeda but the visitors were in determined mood with a series of last-ditch blocks and tackles.
All of that brave resistance was undone in the opening minute of the second period when Kyogo took advantage of a lapse in concentration to touch home a clever, curling cross from Palma.
Celtic's advantage was doubled soon after when Scales leapt impressively to steer home a corner from Palma. The defender was going away from goal but managed to twist and power the pacey delivery beyond goalkeeper Hamilton, who was deputising for Shamal George.
Hamilton remained under siege, making a smart save to thwart Cameron Carter-Vickers after Maeda had spurned a good opportunity with his head.
Making just his fourth appearance of the season, Hamilton excelled again, pushing away a late header from Celtic substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu.
Player of the match - Luis Palma
Luis Palma (right) laid on both goals and could have had a few more assists, with Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley guilty of misses in front of the targetWhat next?
Celtic visit Dundee on Boxing Day (15:00 GMT), while Livingston are at home to St Johnstone on the following evening (19:45).
Line-ups
Celtic
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Hart
- 2Johnston
- 20Carter-Vickers
- 5Scales
- 3Taylor
- 33O'Riley
- 42McGregor
- 28Gonçalves BernardoSubstituted forTurnbullat 80'minutes
- 38MaedaSubstituted forForrestat 63'minutes
- 8FuruhashiSubstituted forOhat 71'minutes
- 7PalmaSubstituted forYangat 71'minutes
Substitutes
- 13Yang
- 14Turnbull
- 19Oh
- 22Kwon
- 29Bain
- 49Forrest
- 56Ralston
- 57Welsh
- 90Johnston
Livingston
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 32Hamilton
- 23de Lucas
- 6Obileye
- 4ParkesSubstituted forNottinghamat 42'minutes
- 12Brandon
- 18HoltBooked at 67mins
- 22ShinnieSubstituted forKellyat 65'minutes
- 29PenriceSubstituted forMontañoat 86'minutes
- 19NoubleSubstituted forLawalat 86'minutes
- 8Pittman
- 9AndersonSubstituted forGuthrieat 65'minutes
Substitutes
- 1George
- 3Montaño
- 10Kelly
- 14Welch-Hayes
- 16Bradley
- 21Nottingham
- 28Guthrie
- 35Ledingham
- 40Lawal
Referee:Matthew MacDermid
Live Text
Match ends, Celtic 2, Livingston 0.
Second Half ends, Celtic 2, Livingston 0.
Foul by Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic).
Kurtis Guthrie (Livingston) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Alistair Johnston (Celtic).
Kurtis Guthrie (Livingston) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alistair Johnston.
Attempt saved. Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Foul by Liam Scales (Celtic).
Michael Nottingham (Livingston) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Jack Hamilton.
Attempt saved. Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Celtic) header from very close range is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by David Turnbull with a cross.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ayo Obileye.
Substitution, Livingston. Cristian Montaño replaces James Penrice.
Substitution, Livingston. Samson Lawal replaces Joel Nouble.
Attempt missed. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Joel Nouble.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by James Penrice.
Attempt missed. Matt O'Riley (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Yang Hyun-Jun with a cross.
Substitution, Celtic. David Turnbull replaces Paulo Bernardo.
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Celtic
Squad number1Player nameHart
Squad number2Player nameJohnston
Squad number20Player nameCarter-Vickers
Squad number5Player nameScales
Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Squad number33Player nameO'Riley
Squad number42Player nameMcGregor
Squad number28Player namePaulo Bernardo
Squad number38Player nameMaeda
Squad number8Player nameFuruhashi
Squad number7Player namePalma
Squad number13Player nameYang Hyun-Jun
Squad number14Player nameTurnbull
Squad number19Player nameOh Hyeon-Gyu
Squad number49Player nameForrest
Livingston
Squad number32Player nameHamilton
Squad number23Player namede Lucas
Squad number6Player nameObileye
Squad number4Player nameParkes
Squad number12Player nameBrandon
Squad number18Player nameHolt
Squad number22Player nameShinnie
Squad number29Player namePenrice
Squad number19Player nameNouble
Squad number8Player namePittman
Squad number9Player nameAnderson
Squad number3Player nameCristian Montaño
Squad number10Player nameKelly
Squad number21Player nameNottingham
Squad number28Player nameGuthrie
Squad number40Player nameLawal
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