It was a freezing day but the Hoops put on a decent show for the travelling fans.
It was pretty much a full strength side fielded by Martin O'Neill, with Magnus Hedman returning in goals, a defence made up of McNamara, Balde and Varga. Michael Gray, Neil Lennon, Stan Petrov, Liam Miller and Alan Thompson made starts in the midfield, while the best strike partnership in Britain, Larsson and Sutton, took their places up front. John Hartson was presumably rested for Wednesday night.
Celtic began the game on the offensive, with a succession of corners and goalscoring chances. Henrik Larsson saw his shot cleared off the line after 7 minutes, and also had another chance which he curled wide.
Livingston weren't up to much, and a long range effort from a free-kick was all they had to offer in the opening period.
It was nice to hear the Livingston PA guy wishing Celtic all the best in Lyon during the week, but there was still a job to be done in league duty.
Nerves were settled two minutes after the restart, when Chris Sutton opened the scoring. After Stan Petrov rammed into Hugh Dallas, Alan Thompson passed to Sutton, who turned brilliantly, and placed the ball in the bottom corner of the net. It was a delightful finish from Scotland's Player of the Month.
Henrik Larsson was failing to get into the game, and missed a chance on 60 minutes, when, through on the 'keeper, he could only shoot wide.
With 6 minutes remaining, Alan Thompson struck a sweet, low drive which gave the Livvy goalkeeper no chance. Another superb strikes, and Thoomo will be badly missed in midweek.
Livingston tried their hardest to grab a goal back, but the two-goal cushion remained. The only worries of the day were McNamara picking up and injury after a challenge from nobody Livingston centre forward, and Bobo Balde also picking up a knock.
Hopefully the players can shrug them off before our visit to Lyon on Wednesday.
Celtic:
Hedman - 7
Balde - 8
Varga - 7
McNamara - 8 (Mjallby - 5)
Miller - 7
Lennon - 8
Petrov - 7
Thompson - 8
Gray - 7
Larsson - 6
Sutton - 9
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Chris Sutton