Kyogo Furuhashi hit his first goal in eight games to send Celtic back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Livingston.
The Japan striker opened the scoring from close range 25 seconds into the second half and Liam Scales soon headed his first goal of the season.
Celtic were comfortable but not spectacular as they restored their five-point lead over Rangers in the cinch Premiership, at least until their rivals play one of two games in hand, at Motherwell on Christmas Eve.
Bottom club Livingston did not register a single effort at goal – although goalkeeper Jack Hamilton sent a kick-out not that far wide of Joe Hart’s goal and behind for a Celtic goal-kick.
The game saw normal service resumed at Celtic Park in more ways than one.
Celtic bounced back from losing consecutive league games for the first time in a decade and losing their first domestic home match in almost three years.
And the Green Brigade were back inside the stadium after about 300 members had their season tickets suspended for six matches as well as being denied tickets for seven away games.
The fans group used a banner to thank fellow ultras group ‘The Bhoys’ for staying away in solidarity and declared “football without fans is nothing” after they reached an agreement with the club weeks after being banned over a series of issues. The gesture led to a standing ovation from several thousand fans in the opposite corner of the ground.
The Green Brigade showed they had not lost their political edge by displaying banners referring to the ongoing situation in Gaza.
With the atmosphere levels multiplied on recent weeks, Celtic started with the tempo and conviction that was lacking in last weekend’s defeat by Hearts and created several early chances.
James Penrice cleared off the line from Furuhashi, Jack Pittman blocked from Paulo Bernardo after Hamilton had spilled Luis Palma’s free-kick, and Tom Parkes produced three goal-saving interventions to deny Daizen Maeda.
Livi lost Parkes to a head injury in the 42nd minute after he got in the way of a fierce shot but substitute Michael Nottingham immediately stepped into his shoes by blocking Maeda’s effort.
The visitors briefly improved as an attacking force late in the first half without threatening Hart as Celtic’s performance dipped but the game was won inside six minutes of the restart.
Palma was the creator each time, first cutting inside from the left touchline and curling a shot towards the far post which Furuhashi helped into the net.
The Honduran winger then delivered one of his near-post corners on to the head of Scales, who guided the ball into the far corner.
The floodgates threatened to open but Livingston maintained their shape and discipline to limit the damage. Maeda headed wide and Hamilton saved well from headers from Cameron Carter-Vickers and substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu.
New Man Utd boss Amorim says he must win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said he will need to win matches in order to earn time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United debut.
But the former Portugal international added that having a young squad will not be an excuse if he fails to get the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
New Manchester United boss Amorim says he needs to win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said that he will need to win matches in order to win time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details."
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity," he said.
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United managerial debut.
But the former Portugal international also added that having a young squad will not be an excuse for not getting the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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