Celtic came from behind to beat Motherwell 10-a-side 3-1 at Celtic Park, posing a challenge to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Derek McInnes’ side at the top of the league head to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock later on Saturday, giving Celtic a chance to reduce the gap at the top of the table to just two points. Hearts’ defeat means they have done just that.
However, Celtic were made to strive for victory by a determined Motherwell team. Elijah Juste’s goal just after the 30th minute silenced the home fans, and in the second half, a Tomas Kvankala penalty and a double goal from Hyun-joong and Yang brought the home team within three points.
Motherwell’s Elijah Just celebrates scoring 1-0 against Celtic
Motherwell had dominated possession in the first half, but their dominance crumbled at the start of the second half as Celtic stepped up their game.
Emmanuel Longello’s sending off when the hosts were awarded a penalty meant Jens Bertel Askou’s side suffered a second consecutive defeat, making the visiting team’s task even more difficult.
The visitors made just one change to the team that lost 2-1 to Dundee last week as Celtic loanee Stephen Welsh missed the match against his parent club and got off to a bright start without giving the ball to their opponents for long periods.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was shown an early yellow card for a late foul on Just, but Well manager Jens Berthel Askou raised doubts after the match, suggesting the former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder could have been given a red card.
Motherwell’s Elijah Just scores to make it 1-0 against Celtic
However, it was Celtic who took advantage of the early chances. Benjamin Nygren should have done better after Longello failed to deal with a long ball into the box, but the Swedish forward was unable to get a clean shot off.
Sebastian Tunekuti then curled his shot just wide of the target, before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s mid-range shot was tipped off the post by Callum Ward and the ball rolled along Motherwell’s goal line and managed to stay just wide of the target.
Benjamin Arthur then took a corner kick from Nygren and aimed for goal, but his header skimmed the roof of the goal and went over the bar.
Referee John Beaton shows Motherwell’s Emmanuel Longello a red card.
Despite the pressure, it was Motherwell who took the lead. Reo Hatate was wandering in possession in his own box when Elliott Watt caught him and pushed the ball to Callum Slattery, who just fed it and the Well midfielder fired a low shot past Villami Sinisalo.
However, the hosts did not have to wait long before returning to parity. This time it was Motherwell’s side who were guilty of trying too many touches in dangerous areas, and Nygren won the ball inside Motherwell’s half and drove towards the byline, Ward cut back and the waiting Jan fired into the corner.
Slattery had several chances to put Motherwell back in front before half-time, but it was Celtic who attacked after the interval, bringing on Kvankala for Tunekti.
Celtic’s Tomas Kvankala scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1.
Celtic quickly took the lead but could not find a clear shot or a pass to trouble Ward, before Ibrahim Said was forced into a good save from Sinisalo.
Nygren then thought he had given his team the lead, but his shot from the edge of the box hit the post and Ward was relieved before Premiership top scorer Tawanda Maswanhise curled a shot wide of the target.
The turning point of the match came in the 68th minute, when Longello tangled with Daenen Maeda at the back post following a Celtic corner kick. Referee John Beaton was in the right position and initially awarded the goal kick before VAR Kevin Clancy was called to the monitor to review the incident.
Celtic’s Yang Hyun-joong scores twice against Motherwell
A stunned Longello was awarded a penalty and given a red card for trouble, allowing Kvankala to hit Ward the wrong way from 12 yards.
Celtic were left with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Yan rode the edge of a long ball over the top past Ward and finished smartly to put all the pressure on leaders Hearts and Old Firm rivals Rangers, who travel to St Mirren on Sunday, in the second half on Saturday.
O’Neill happy with Celtic spirit
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told Sky Sports:
“I’m happy with the team and the spirit they showed, and I’m happy with the way we played. It was great. We came from behind to win this game from a one-goal deficit. Today was a big, big win for us.”
“Motherwell are a team that plays really good football. We knew there would be a few moments during the game where we would have to play without the ball, but we just had to do the best we could in those moments and make the most of it when we had the ball. There were some great individual performances there. I’m glad we got the win.”
“We deserved to win the game, but like I said, we had to fight back and I thought the team was great considering the pressure today.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill praised his players after the win over Motherwell.
“It was a really good game and Motherwell played their part in it too. There’s no question about that. We knew it was going to be a very open game so we had to take our chances. We gave them a goal and that’s one thing you don’t want to do. After that you go all the way back and you have to fight back.”
“We have a lot of new players here, not only from January but also from August, but we also have big winners in the dressing room and that is also very important.
“We’re in the chase and we’re continuing to push ourselves forward. Regardless of what happens over the next few months, the players have shown a determination to fight back and try to retain the championship. “Generally speaking, in recent years they could have been about 15 points down at this stage and it’s just been fighting all season long.”
Ask: Penalty was fair but Oxlade-Chamberlain could have been sent off
Motherwell manager Jens Bertel Askou told Sky Sports:
“The team’s performance was very good in so many ways. We had better control and dominance here than the last time we were here. Even though we were down to 10 men at the end, we pushed and pressed and played and tried to get something out of it.”
“The third goal killed us in that we had a very good opportunity to get something out of the game, but the effort, the courage, the intention and how to control the various curses when we were tied in the first half and the whole stadium collapsed…
Motherwell manager Jens Bertel Askou praises fans at full-time
“When the referee gives a penalty and sends off Manny (Emmanuel Longello) and at least the game becomes very difficult to win, we are ready to give the game one last push and go for it.
“If Manny doesn’t catch him, he (Daenen Maeda) will get the ball. I’ve seen Maeda score from there, I’ve seen him make mistakes, but obviously it’s a big chance, a clear chance to score a goal, so I can’t argue with that and I don’t think so. It obviously hurts to get locked down in a game where we had good control and were ready to push. We needed to rebuild the team a little bit and see if we could find something that could hurt them, and obviously it became difficult.”
Motherwell’s Elijah Just appeals to referee during game against Celtic
“In games like this, both teams are very close, both teams are very invested in winning and making for a great football game to watch, but you need a 50-50 moment to get your way. Elijah (Just) gave (a warning) at the start of the game. I think it was the tackle he received (from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain). I’ve seen that get a red card more often, but it didn’t. Sometimes you need little things like that to get things going your way.
“The match itself was a great commercial for the top of Scottish football. Compared to what we saw last week, that’s what you want to see. I think we’ve been building and I think we’ve reached a level. We still have a lot of games and a lot of points to chase. We’ll continue to do that and we’ll see where that takes us.”
What will happen in the Scottish Premiership?
