New brooms sweep clean – Oxford-Chamberlain shoots Celtic to last-minute victory

At 10:34 p.m., Sir Rod Stewart jumped out of his chair cheering, threw his arms in the air and danced exuberantly around the room. At that very moment, Alexander Oxford-Chamberlain had secured Celtic Football Club's narrow but well-deserved 2-1 home victory over Livingston FC with a powerful shot from 16 metres.
Served from the left, the former Liverpool player, who was signed by the Hoops just a few days ago, skilfully controlled the ball and curled it past Livingston keeper Jerome Prior into the right corner from the edge of the penalty area. It was the 90th+1 minute in a game that should have been decided at half-time, but in the end turned out to be a close call for the reigning champions.
Celtic started the game determinedly, making it clear from the outset that they wanted to start the upcoming weeks of truth with two games against VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League and two duels with arch-rivals Rangers with a win.
The Bhoys in green created chance after chance before the break and took the lead after a quarter of an hour through left-back Marcelo Saracchi (15').
However, the Hoops missed a number of excellent opportunities as the game progressed, meaning they went into the break with only a narrow 1-0 lead.
After the break, the underdogs from Livingston grew in confidence and shed their great respect for the serial champions. Celtic, on the other hand, lost more and more control, allowing striker Robbie Muirhead to equalise with a controversial penalty (57'). The equaliser turned the game on its head and it became a nail-biting affair for the 60,000 spectators in the stadium and Sir Rod watching on television. Just when it looked like the game was heading for a draw, Oxford-Chamberlain struck again, sending the fans in the stadium and Rod into raptures.

The last-minute victory keeps team manager Martin O'Neill's men in third place in the table. With 51 points, the Hoops are still six points behind leaders Hearts, with Rangers in between on 52 points. However, Celtic have a game in hand and still have to make up their recently postponed match at Aberdeen FC on 4 March.