Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shoot for Celtic against LivingstonImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain curled home a delightful winner for Celtic

At a glance

  • Saracchi opens scoring for Celtic after dominant opening spell

  • Muirhead equalises from spot for Livingston after being fouled by Hatate

  • Oxlade-Chamberlain comes off bench to score dramatic winner as Celtic move back within six points of Hearts at top of table

ByGeorge O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain curled home a magnificent debut goal in stoppage time to secure a crucial win for Celtic over Livingston in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Marvin Bartley's side looked on course for a point at Parkhead after Robbie Muirhead's penalty cancelled out Marcelo Saracchi's opener, but the England international came off the bench to have the final say.

Receiving the ball on the edge of the Livingston box, he opened up his body to find the bottom corner and spare Celtic blushes against the division's bottom side.

The hosts had been wasteful before and after Saracchi's powerful strike with Livingston goalkeeper Jerome Prior also making a string of excellent saves.

Having scored late to keep themselves in the Scottish Cup against Dundee on Sunday, Celtic once again found a way to win late as Martin O'Neill's unbeaten record domestically continued.

Following Hearts' dramatic 1-0 win over Edinburgh rivals Hibernian on Tuesday, Celtic move back to within six points of the league leaders and within one of Rangers, who drew 1-1 at fourth-placed Motherwell.

O'Neill's side also carry a game in hand.

Analysis: Celtic dig deep again as Livi slip closer to drop

The interim Celtic manager has had the Midas Touch during both of his spells in charge this season and his team once again found a way to win when not playing their best stuff.

The veteran manager is still yet to taste defeat in the league in either of his interim spells this season and his decision to introduce Oxlade-Chamberlain - signed on a free at the weekend - was a masterstroke.

Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Tomas Cvancara all spurned gilt-edged chances in a dominant opening burst that could have had Celtic four or five goals to the good.

As it was, only Saracchi's powerful strike through a crowd of bodies found the back of Prior's net and that profligacy appeared to be costly when Hatate wiped out Muirhead and the visiting striker sat Kasper Schmeichel down to equalise.

There was a rushed nature to Celtic's attack as time ticked away, but Oxlade-Chamberlain showed the requisite composure and quality with the type of finish that earned him major honours with Arsenal and Liverpool, as well as 35 international caps.

That goal-scoring touch could be vital as Celtic try to chase down Hearts.

For Livingston, this was a hammer blow in their seemingly doomed bid to stay in the top flight.

With second-bottom Kilmarnock beating St Mirren 3-2, Bartley's team are now nine points adrift despite a monumental defensive effort.

Prior made nine saves in total, while Ryan McGowan, Danny Wilson, Daniel Finlayson and Brooklyn Kabongolo made 40 clearances between them as cross after cross was repelled.

Four of their 11 points were earned in the first two games of the league season and Bartley has a monumental task on his hands just to find another win, let alone climb the table.

They were adamant they should have had a penalty with the game's final act as a loose ball in the Celtic box bounced up onto Hatate's arm, but referee Calum Scott blew for full-time soon after and there was no VAR intervention.

What they said

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill: "We reached that situation because we missed a lot of chances and their goalkeeper played very well. There must have been four chances before we scored. We needed a second goal because Livingston - who played very well - could get back into the game.

"Of course, they do equalise and we're pressing and pressing. We didn't look like we were going to get any reward at all and Alex scores this brilliant goal. When it left his foot, I could see it going in and that was a real delight.

"I think there will be twists and turns in the rest of the season. Hearts are in a very strong position and we've been chasing since I've come in, first and second time. We kept ourselves in the hunt tonight."

Livingston boss Marvin Bartley: "Gutted. I'm upset for the players but I'm also proud of them. The effort was magnificent to a man and I'm hurting for them because we were so close to picking up a vital point.

"We can do it. Until it's mathematically impossible we will not give up. Can we narrow the gap before the split? Then you're playing the teams around you and those games are huge.

"I've seen more than enough from the players to know they can do it. We need to start picking up points as quickly as possible now."

What's next?

Celtic go to Kilmarnock on Sunday (14:00), while Livingston are away to Dundee on Saturday (15:00).

Player of the match

Number: 21 A. Oxlade-Chamberlain
Average rating 8.41
Number: 21 A. Oxlade-Chamberlain
Average Rating: 8.41
Number: 36 M. Saracchi
Average Rating: 6.91
Number: 63 K. Tierney
Average Rating: 6.91
Number: 22 J. Araujo
Average Rating: 6.23
Number: 6 A. Trusty
Average Rating: 6.20
Number: 23 S. Tounekti
Average Rating: 6.19
Number: 5 L. Scales
Average Rating: 6.15
Number: 42 C. McGregor
Average Rating: 5.99
Number: 8 B. Nygren
Average Rating: 5.98
Number: 1 K. Schmeichel
Average Rating: 5.97
Number: 49 J. Forrest
Average Rating: 5.50
Number: 9 J. Adamu
Average Rating: 5.48
Number: 11 T. Čvančara
Average Rating: 5.45
Number: 38 D. Maeda
Average Rating: 5.42
Number: 27 A. Engels
Average Rating: 5.01
Number: 41 R. Hatate
Average Rating: 4.54

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.