MOMENTUM. Confidence. Tempo. Swagger.

Against Livingston, Celtic failed to produce multiple-choice answer 'E' - all of the above.

A 0-0 draw in Paradise saw Ange Postecoglou's men fail to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time in 18 months.

The men from Glasgow's east end were supposed to discover the joy of six but were left rueing a Greek tragedy as striker Giorgos Giakoumakis blew the chance to win all three points from the penalty spot in injury-time.

His weak run-up and even more woeful kick was easily saved by Max Stryjek in the Livi goal.

Sterner tests will no doubt lie in wait for Celtic - starting away to Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday night - but for all their domination and possession the Hoops virtually failed to create a single decent scoring opportunity as Livi frustrated the life out of their hosts.

All eyes were on the manager once again before kick-off as Postecoglou was forced to tinker with his starting line-up after Tom Rogic was ruled out for three weeks with a hamstring injury obtained in the 3-1 Scottish Premiership win over Hibs at Easter Road in midweek.

It was a huge blow for the hosts as Rogic showed increasing signs of rediscovering some of his best club form.

In came Israeli midfielder Nir Bitton to occupy the traditional number six role and his fellow compatriot Liel Abada also returned to the first-team fold in place of Mikey Johnston.

The biggest surprise of all saw Postecoglou opt to start with Giakoumakis spearheading the attack in place of Kyogo Furuhashi. The Greek striker had netted during last weekend's 2-0 league win over St Johnstone in his first start for the club.

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Giorgos Giakoumakis misses penalty and Hoops pass up chance to go top

Moreover, James McCarthy and James Forrest were both listed as substitutes in a bench that was so brimming with options and game-changers that it verged on showboating.

It was all Celtic in the opening quarter of the match as they put the visiting defence under severe pressure but the hosts had nothing to show for their efforts.

Referee Bobby Madden took centre stage for a while and incurred the wrath of the home supporters with a couple of inexplicable decisions against skipper Callum McGregor in particular.

Yet for all Celtic's controlled the ball, it remained goalless at the break as Livi sat in to contain.

Opposition goalkeeper Stryjek did not have a save to make and Anthony Ralston's curled effort that was headed off the line by Jack Fitzwater was the closest that Celtic came to open the scoring.

The Hoops simply lacked a spark and a cutting edge despite playing well generally.

After Carl Starfelt limped off on 58 minutes nursing a hamstring injury - just like Rogic - Celtic got ragged as the hour mark approached.

That was the cue for Postecoglou to let Kyogo and Johnston loose on the Lions as the home side patiently awaited the crucial breakthrough.

The deadlock should have been broken in injury-time when Celtic were gifted a spot-kick after Kyogo was needlessly slapped in the box by Ayo Obileye.

It's certainly not one for the Giakoumakis scrapbook as he fluffed his lines from 12 yards out.

In recent years Celtic have dusted down an old classic song that commemorated the 7-1 victory over Rangers in the 1957 League Cup final at Hampden.

It contains the following lyrics: "Piling on the agony, putting on the style. There's nothing in this whole wide world that makes you want to smile like watching Glasgow Celtic putting on the style."

The men in green and white failed to go top of the table and exact revenge on the Lions for the 1-0 defeat inflicted on them at West Lothian in September in the process.

For the first time this season, Postecoglou's side were given the chance to pose a serious question of their rivals.

Celtic blew it big style... and it left their supporters in agony and most certainly not wanting to smile.