Livingston rose to third in the Premier League after Cristian Montano’s goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
The Colombian went home in the 25th minute to take his tally for the season to three and give the Lions three consecutive home wins for the first time since February 2020.
They deserved no less as the West Lothian side celebrated their third straight win over Ayrshire rivals for the first time in their history.
David Martindale made two changes to the home team with Kurtis Guthrie for Esmael Goncalves while James Penrice omitted Dylan Bahamboula.
Meanwhile, there are four changes to the side Kilmarnock lost to Hibernian last time.
Christian Doidge made his debut in attack after he moved on loan from Hibs while Zach Hemming returned from injury to make his first Premier League debut.
The Livingston striker scored his third goal of the season
Jeriel Dorsett replaced the suspended Ash Taylor in defense with Rory McKenzie picked up against Oli Shaw but they were unable to stop the mighty hosts.
Montano created the first chance of the game 10 minutes into the match when Stephane Omeonga made a clever winger, but the ball went over the crossbar to Hemming and Killie’s defense.
After failing to make the most of a number of set-play opportunities, Livi finally scored a goal. Montano took a corner from the right by Sean Kelly, who escaped the marker’s attention to go into the net.
Jason Holt nearly doubled Livingston’s advantage the next minute but Joe Wright was on hand to make a crucial save from the line.
Having lost 10 of their last 11 away games in the Premiership, Kilmarnock is struggling to create any clear chances with Danny Armstrong’s runs and crosses as they came in the first period.
Cristian Montano celebrates with Kurtis Guthrie after his winner
Lewis Mayo scored after a foul on Kelly while trying to connect with a bouncing ball in the Livingston penalty area.
Killie made three changes to the timer as Jordan Jones, Brad Lyons and Fraser Murray were introduced as the visitors wanted to show more attacking intent.
But Livingston remained in control and Scott Pittman should have made the game safe in the 75th minute after Ben Chrisene slipped but the midfielder shot out to make it easier to score.
Killie was still in the game and Mayo squandered a great opportunity to equalize as he failed to get a header on target from the middle of the box.
That miss proved to be costly as Livingston ended the game while the visitors went into the international break without a goal or a point in their trip so far this season.
What the managers have to say
Livingston manager David Martindale: “It’s good to be in third. There’s a lot of faith in the dressing room and most of the years we value the money. We’re up there, pushing our weight and hoping for them. I might do it again this year.
“I try to manage every game, win or lose or draw. I don’t really look at the group. Last season we won 13 and were in the bottom six, then last year we were top of group six and won 12. We curate one game at a time and see where it takes us.
“I’m about to head into the international break and know I’ll sleep well this week and next.
“It’s good to have a 1-0 win. You don’t want to win 1-0 during the game, you want to get the second goal so I can actually sit on the bench. But in the end you’ve won the game. play and keep a clean sheet, that’s a huge positive.”
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes: “It was another away game where we lost with a single goal but there wasn’t much in the game.
“We struggled to cope with Livingston’s physicality at back four. We took too many cheap free-kicks and let them get the ball into our box.
“We need to make sure that even if we’re not at our best we don’t lose it.
“It’s an old saying but we need to be a little smarter and a little more street. On another day if we’re a little more pragmatic and street-wise you’ll miss something.
“There’s a bit of innocence to that. We lost another away game by a single goal.”
What’s next?
Livingston will return from an international break with a trip to St Mirren on 1 October.
Kilmarnock hosts Aberdeen the same day. Both matches start at 3pm.
