Nygren at the double as Celtic take all three points at Paradise | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSaturday, August 23, 2025Celtic Park

CELTIC...3(Nygren 47 & 72, Kenny 77)

LIVINGSTON...0

Celtic’s perfect start to the domestic campaign continued at Celtic Park today as Brendan Rodgers’ men took all three points thanks to a second-half brace from Benjamin Nygren and a finish from Johnny Kenny to secure a 3-0 win.

The Celts dominated the first half, limiting the visitors to very little in the way of opportunities or possession, as the champions looked to break Livingston down and fashion a chance.

David Martindale’s men were, as expected, well organised at the back and were camped in their own half for almost the entirety of the first half.

The Celts had the ball in the net with just under 15 minutes gone when Arne Engels found Shin Yamada in the box, but the offside flag went up and, after a VAR review, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Shin went close again 20 minutes later when Hayato Inamura, making his competitive debut for the Hoops today, sent an excellent cross in to the box which Shin directed on target with a header, but the Livi keeper was equal to it and tipped it over the bar.

Celtic’s best chance of the first half came three minutes in to stoppage time as the Hoops broke forward at pace.

Benjamin Nygren and Shin linked up in the middle of the park and the Japanese forward raced towards the Livingston penalty area before squaring the ball to Arne Engels.

The Belgian midfielder lost his footing at the crucial moment on the edge of the area just as he was about to pull the trigger, and Livingston bundled the ball away.

The Celts kept the pressure on the visitors though, and the ball was swiftly sent out wide to Nygren, who whipped a cross towards Yang at the back post. His header from point-blank range drew an incredible save from Jérôme Prior, with the away keeper somehow managing to push the ball on to the crossbar to keep the score level at the break.

Celtic started the second half brightly and within minutes of the restart, they had the goal that they had been searching for.

Yang drifted in from the left wing with the ball and unleashed a shot on goal which Prior saved, but the rebounded ball fell to Benjamin Nygren who was on hand to divert it in to the back of the net to give Celtic the lead.

The Celts continued to dominate the game, and it was clear that a second goal would settle matters and put the match beyond Livingston.

Brendan Rodgers made a triple sub just before the hour mark, with Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Daizen Maeda replacing Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan and Shin Yamada.

It wasn’t long before the second goal that Celtic had hunted for was found, and once again it was Benjamin Nygren writing his name on the scoresheet.

The Swede capitalised on another rebound from the Livingston keeper, though on this occasion, he curled his finish in to the top corner from inside the area in emphatic fashion.

A few moments later Johnny Kenny, who had replaced Yang on the 70-minute mark, grabbed a goal of his own as he capitalised on a great cross in to the box from Daizen Maeda and added gloss to a solid second-half performance from the Hoops.

There was also a competitive debut for Colby Donovan this afternoon, with the young right back brought on in place of Anthony Ralston with just over 10 minutes of the match left to play.

Celtic will now turn their attention to Tuesday night’s match in Kazakhstan, where a victory over FC Kairat would secure a place in the league phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League.