David Martindale heaped praise on Livingston for the ruthless way they put 10-man Motherwell to the sword in a 2-0 victory.
The Lions made light work of cutting open their visitors once Lennon Miller had been red carded in first-half stoppage time for clipping the heels of Dan MacKay.
Bruce Anderson made the breakthrough only seven minutes into the second half and Sean Kelly added a second from the spot nine minutes later.
It was a first home victory for the Almondvale side in the Premiership this season and they remain undefeated against teams outside the Old Firm.
Livi boss Martindale said: “We’re not getting carried away, but it’s three points and a clean sheet.
“I felt we just shaded it 11 v 11. Motherwell have had a fairly good start to the campaign and they’ve got a good shape about them and a good structure. They’re well coached.
“I don’t think they caused us many problems in the first half and we worked on Dan MacKay, in particular, attacking those central zones at pace.
“We got our just rewards from it and Dan got his just rewards from it.
“I thought wee Bruce was brilliant today with his link-up, he was fantastic and brings Dan into play, and they went down to 10 men.
“I’ll be honest, I thought it was going to be a difficult second half, in terms of trying to break Motherwell down.
“But we managed to get in behind them quite early on for the first goal and then James Penrice did magnificently for the second goal.
“That took a wee bit of the sting out of the game, playing against 10 men. The boys have got to take a lot of credit for the clean sheet.”
Martindale reserved special praise for Anderson, who led the line for Livingston impressively and grabbed his sixth goal of the campaign.
He added: “Bruce’s link-up was brilliant. It’s a part of his game he needs to join together and be a bit more consistent with.
“He’s always going to score goals if you get the ball into the box, but outside the box he knows it’s an area of his game he needs to work on.
“But, outside the box, I thought he was tremendous today and that was the most pleasing aspect for me.”
Meanwhile, Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell was angered by his side’s second-half capitulation.
The Fir Park side opened the season in fantastic form with 10 points from a possible 12, but have now lost four in a row.
Kettlewell said: “There was nothing in the game before [the red card] and that’s the bit that really frustrates me.
“But it also seemed to be the catalyst for a real degree of naivety from our point of view.
“The decision making wasn’t good enough, we conceded one penalty and could have conceded another.
“It all just spiralled out of control and I have never seen that since being here. It irks me and it begins to anger me, as we have had a lot of plaudits for being a good side.
“We are always well organised but in that second half, it all just spiralled. I take responsibility for that but I have never seen it from the players before.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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