I wanted Celtic Park TAXI after first half display says Livingston boss Davie Martindale, in hilarious mobile phone quip
CELTIC were so good in charging into a 3-0 lead against Livingston it left David Martindale seeking a quick EXIT from Parkhead.
But the Livingston boss joked the mobile phone signal was so poor he couldn't call a cab and was made to stick around for the scoreless second half at Celtic Park.
First-half goals from Greg Taylor, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi on the stroke of half-time put the Hoops in cruise control.
And defeated manager Martindale admitted: "It was lucky I couldn’t get a reception at half-time because I was trying to get an Uber!
“Celtic were worthy winners, and I thought they played some nice football at times.
"It was really difficult for us to lay a glove on them - but I did think we gifted them two goals.
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"The second and third goals we’ve got to do a lot better defensively.
"But they’ve got international players. I’ve seen them do that to Real Madrid – they were probably the better team in that game for 60 minutes and you’ve got to take your hat off to Ange.”
Opposite number Ange Postecoglou says ‘fortuitous’ Daizen Maeda EARNED his freak Celtic Park goal.
The Japanese scored Celts’ second when an Ayo Obileye clearance hit him in the face and rebounded into the net.
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But Postecoglou – whose side maintained their nine-point lead at the top - said: “How many runs does Daizen make in a game?
“His goal was a product of his hard work - anyone who watches Daizen sees he’s constantly making runs and constantly in those areas.
“I’ve known him for a while now and sometimes people say he’s fortuitous but it’s on the back of working his backside off when we have the ball and he gets the rewards from that.
“He’s always there – that’s why he gets his goals."
Greg Taylor had fired in Celts' opener and Kyogo Furuhashi added after Maeda’s strike in a match where Celtic enjoyed 81-percent possession.
He said: “I thought it was another strong performance. We knew it would be a tough challenge, trying to create opportunities in the game.
“But I thought we were really good, we had a lot of possession but we used our possession really well, asking questions of the opposition, being threatening with our running.
“We scored three good goals, but the second-half wasn’t any easier because they still sat in and made it difficult.
“It wasn’t going to be an open game but we still controlled the game well and had some half-chances in the second-half.”
Skipper Callum McGregor – presented with a framed jersey to mark his 400th Celtic appearance on Sunday – suffered a suspected broken nose but Postecoglou shrugged that off.
He said: “I worry about all of them, mate - I love them all the same and I don’t want any of them to get hurt.
“We realised fairly early that he’d got a bang on the nose and there was a bit of blood coming out.
“But it was nothing to worry about, he was fine.
“I don’t know if it’s broken, I wouldn’t ask him. But if it was he would be there tomorrow for training, no problem.”
The win made it six clean sheets in a row and Postecoglou added: “We have been really focused on that since the break – to be a strong defensive unit and work hard defensively.
“It’s not just that we’re keeping clean sheets, we’re stopping the opposition even getting into our half at times, and that’s because our front players and midfielders are working hard and our defenders are always defending on the front foot.
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“The clean sheets are a by-product of that stuff.”
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