Wilfried Nancy continued to recover from his dismal start as Celtic manager, his side twice coming from behind in a ridiculous first half to beat Livingston and move to within three points of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

Four goals were scored in the opening 10 minutes, Livingston twice taking the lead only for Celtic to hit back almost immediately, with two further first-half goals ensuring a second win in six games under new manager Nancy.

And with Hearts losing the Edinburgh derby earlier in the day – their final game of 2025 – Celtic could go top should they win at Motherwell on Wednesday.

Cristian Montano had Livingston ahead after just three minutes in West Lothian when he skipped past Hyun-jun Yang and fired past Viljami Sinisalo and in off the near post.

Benjamin Nygren tapped in the leveller for Celtic three minutes later when Daizen Maeda headed Arne Engels’ corner to the back post.

But Livi went up the other end and immediately restored their lead, Montano being left totally unmarked inside the Celtic box to fire a rocket beyond Sinisalo. Only eight frantic minutes had elapsed.

Celtic, though, would level again a couple of minutes later, Yang eventually turning the ball over the line after a scramble inside the six-yard box.

The contest them quietened a little for 20 minutes before Nancy’s side took the lead for the first time when Nygren fired the ball in off the inside of the far post.

And Arne Engels added to the lead just before the break after the ball appeared to strike the arm of Livi’s Daniel Finlayson following a Celtic corner.

After taking a second look at the incident on the pitchside monitor, referee Matthew MacDermid gave the spot kick, which Engels converted.

There were no goals in the second half but plenty of chances for both sides in a compelling contest.

Luke McCowan and Reo Hatate forced saves from Prior while Montano and Macaulay Tait enjoyed opportunities up the other end.

The result leaves Livingston rock bottom of the Premiership table, four adrift of Kilmarnock above them, albeit with a game in hand.

Livingston boss David Martindale: “I do genuinely feel that there’s a lot of positives within performances. I don’t think we got battered today, I thought we were competitive within the game.

“We need to tidy up in our own box and I think that’s been our story of late. I think we need to tidy up in the offensive areas as well because goals win games.”

Match report: Charlotte Cohen

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