The Athletic's Celtic correspondent Kieran Devlin belieevs that Joe Hart could have done more to prevent Livingston's goal in the Hoops' 3-1 victory on Sunday. 

The lowdown

Celtic beat Livi to restore their three-point cushion at the top of the Premiership following their arch-rivals' 1-0 win over Aberdeen on Saturday.

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Goals from Daizen Maeda and James Forrest either side of a Nicky Devlin own goal had given Celtic a healthy lead, but Andrew Shinnie threatened to ignite a comeback for the hosts when he pulled one back in the 56th minute.

Shinnie 'stabbed home in a crowded goalmouth' (in the words of BBC Sport's Clive Lindsay) as the Hoops failed to deal with a Livingston long throw.

The latest

Writing on The Athletic's matchday discussion board after Celtic let their clean sheet slip, Devlin expressed his disappointment with the £15,000-per-week goalkeeper over his role in the goal for Livingston.

Replying to a Hoops fan who was bemoaning his team's defending at set pieces in the wake of Shinnie's goal, the journalist stated: "Think Hart should be doing better there too".

The verdict

When you watch the goal back, you can see where Devlin is coming from. Hart should perhaps be expected to take charge of the situation, but ultimately he remains virtually on his line and doesn't get down quickly enough to prevent Shinnie poking the ball under him.

However, the broader issue here is Celtic's weakness when it comes to defending set pieces. The Bhoys may be top of the table, but they have the third-worst record in the league in that department (10 goals conceded, one fewer than Aberdeen and two fewer than Ross County).

Strikingly, 55% of the goals they've conceded in the division have come from set pieces. In light of these statistics, it's hard to pin the blame on individuals, and it should be regarded a team failing.

In other news, this Celtic youngster is back in training