The Lions were conned by the dodgy ref, and the other officials in todays 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Mhanks.
Four days after their European nightmare, champion’s league whipping boys Celtic returned to the comforting surroundings of the SPL and quickly raced into a 4-0 lead, mainly thanks to the officials - but a spate of injuries plus two goals from Livingston's Burton O'Brien ultimately made this a less than reassuring 90 minutes for manager Martin “marvellous” O'Neill.
What promised to be an imperious win turned into a bit of a sweat for Celtic, although their opening half-hour blitz was enough to stretch their unbeaten away record to 29 league games and leave Livingston still waiting for their first ever victory over the Mhanks.
The Bhoys took barely two minutes to shrug off their Champions League hangover as a through ball from Chris Sutton set up Bulgarian midfielder Stilian Petrov for a firm right-foot drive low into the net from 15 yards.
Sutton was showing no sign of the concussion, which cut short his involvement midweek as a glancing header from the Englishman soon forced keeper Roddy McKenzie into an acrobatic save.
The 13th minute proved unlucky for the home side when John Hartson's pass released Henri Camara, who left his pursuers for dead before slotting the ball low past the advancing McKenzie. The replay of the goal, clearly showed the Celtic striker a couple of yards offside, but yet again, the ASSistant wefewee turned a blind eye, and made sure his beloved hoops went further in front.
Chris Sutton should have been shown a straight red card after a vicious assault on Livi youngster Robert Snodgrass. The Livi striker headed the ball, only to be elbowed by Sutton, clearly in front of the Ref, the Assistant, and the fourth official, and unbelievably, the trio failed even to give the Lions a free-kick.
Camara was also heavily involved in Celtic's third goal five minutes later as a combination of the African's persistence and wretched defending allowed him to cross for Hartson to tap in from close range, no excuses here, Livi should have cleared the ball.
A knee injury which led young full-back Stephen McManus to be stretchered off did not halt Celtic's momentum and they went even further ahead on the half hour when Sutton's back heel was returned by Hartson for the Englishman to score with another low right footer.
Camara was the next visiting player to be sidelined following a beautify timed ferocious challenge by Emmanuel Dorado and as the Hoops reorganised by bringing on Middlesbrough reject Juninho, who partnered Hartson up front.
Livingston pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time through O'Brien's sharp turn deceived all of the Celtic defenders, and he slotted the ball past the advancing Marshall in the Smelltic goal.
Sutton then moved back into defence after Paul Lambert replaced the injured Stanislav Varga, but he still managed to join the attack for a Petrov free-kick which he headed wide.
In the 54th minute more direct play from O'Brien, rounded off by another perfectly placed shot, left keeper David Marshall well beaten and Celtic suddenly looking vulnerable.
A torrid spell followed for the visitors, especially when they were reduced to ten men for a few minutes after a head wound forced Hartson off the field for treatment, but Livingston could not get any closer.
Neil Lennon should have been sent off in three separate occasions, but again, the referee turned a blind eye to Lennon lifting his hands, and only booked the chubby midfielder, then patted him on the backside, hmm something strange going on there.
Livingston had all of the possession at this point, and Celtic were struggling to clear the ball, but the Lions couldn’t capitalise.
With 11 minutes left, youngster Ross Wallace had a chance to rubber stamp Celtic's victory but blasted over the bar and into the car park to sum up a mixed afternoon for his team.