Full TimePosted at 90’+5′ Second Half ends, Celtic 1, Motherwell 1.Post updatePosted at 90’+3′ Attempt missed. Liam Polworth (Motherwell) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Barry Maguire.Post updatePosted at 90’+2′ Attempt blocked. Ryan Christie (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mohamed Elyounoussi.Post updatePosted at 90’+1′ Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Liam Kelly.Post updatePosted at 90’+1′ Attempt blocked. Mohamed Elyounoussi (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ryan Christie.BookingPosted at 90′ Kevin van Veen (Motherwell) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.Post updatePosted at 89′ Attempt blocked. Mohamed Elyounoussi (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ryan Christie.SubstitutionPosted at 87′ Substitution, Celtic. Stephen Welsh replaces Diego Laxalt.SubstitutionPosted at 80′ Substitution, Motherwell. Barry Maguire replaces Mark O’Hara.SubstitutionPosted at 79′ Substitution, Motherwell. Robbie Miller replaces Tony Watt.SubstitutionPosted at 79′ Substitution, Celtic. Jeremie Frimpong replaces David Turnbull.SubstitutionPosted at 74′ Substitution, Motherwell. Chris Long replaces Allan Campbell.SubstitutionPosted at 65′ Substitution, Celtic. Mohamed Elyounoussi replaces Ismaila Soro.SubstitutionPosted at 65′ Substitution, Celtic. Ryan Christie replaces Shon Weissman.Post updatePosted at 64′ Diego Laxalt (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.Post updatePosted at 63′ Attempt missed. David Turnbull (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left following a corner.Post updatePosted at 62′ Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Liam Polworth.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou said his side “lacked composure” in a “disappointing” 1-1 draw with Motherwell as they suffered a minor bump in their pursuit of back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles. The runaway league leaders went into the game off the back of 12 straight league wins and were on track to extend that run to 13 when Callum McGregor’s deflected first-half effort opened the scoring. However, Postecoglou’s men were never at their free-flowing best and Kevin van Veen’s 24th goal of the season levelled the game after the break, meaning the Fir Park club become the first team to take a point away from Celtic Park this season.
The result stretches Celtic’s lead at the top to 13 points, but victory for Rangers at Aberdeen on Sunday will cut that gap to 10 with five games to play. That means Postecoglou’s side need just two wins from their post-split fixtures to clinch successive Premiership titles.
Motherwell, meanwhile, continue their impressive form under Stuart Kettlewell and they remain eighth. Kettlewell’s men travelled to Glasgow’s east end with a 15-game losing streak against their hosts hanging over them, but Saturday’s result ended that wretched run. Again, they had Van Veen to thank after the Dutchman carried the ball from just beyond halfway before finishing superbly past Joe Hart into the far corner. Had the striker managed to beat Hart from a similar angle in the first half, the visitors would have taken the lead within the first minute.
Aside from that, Motherwell’s impressive work came in their defending. Celtic needed a deflected effort from McGregor to beat Liam Kelly, who pulled off a number of smart stops throughout the 90 minutes. The first of those came from a diving Daizen Maeda header in the first half with the game goalless. After the break, the visitors’ captain was sharp off his line to get a strong hand to Kyogo Furuhashi’s dinked finish with the score at 1-1. As expected, Celtic ramped up the pressure as the game progressed, but Hyeon-gyu Oh and Carl Starfelt both failed to direct close-range headers on target late on.
It all added up to a frustrating day for Postecoglou, but a second title in his second season in Scotland still very much looks inevitable with just six points from a possible 15 required. Player of the match – Kevin van Veen
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou said his side “lacked composure” in a “disappointing” 1-1 draw with Motherwell as they suffered a minor bump in their pursuit of back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles. The runaway league leaders went into the game off the back of 12 straight league wins and were on track to extend that run to 13 when Callum McGregor’s deflected first-half effort opened the scoring. However, Postecoglou’s men were never at their free-flowing best and Kevin van Veen’s 24th goal of the season levelled the game after the break, meaning the Fir Park club become the first team to take a point away from Celtic Park this season.
The result stretches Celtic’s lead at the top to 13 points, but victory for Rangers at Aberdeen on Sunday will cut that gap to 10 with five games to play. That means Postecoglou’s side need just two wins from their post-split fixtures to clinch successive Premiership titles. Motherwell, meanwhile, continue their impressive form under Stuart Kettlewell and they remain eighth. Kettlewell’s men travelled to Glasgow’s east end with a 15-game losing streak against their hosts hanging over them, but Saturday’s result ended that wretched run. Again, they had Van Veen to thank after the Dutchman carried the ball from just beyond halfway before finishing superbly past Joe Hart into the far corner. Had the striker managed to beat Hart from a similar angle in the first half, the visitors would have taken the lead within the first minute.
Aside from that, Motherwell’s impressive work came in their defending. Celtic needed a deflected effort from McGregor to beat Liam Kelly, who pulled off a number of smart stops throughout the 90 minutes. The first of those came from a diving Daizen Maeda header in the first half with the game goalless. After the break, the visitors’ captain was sharp off his line to get a strong hand to Kyogo Furuhashi’s dinked finish with the score at 1-1. As expected, Celtic ramped up the pressure as the game progressed, but Hyeon-gyu Oh and Carl Starfelt both failed to direct close-range headers on target late on.
It all added up to a frustrating day for Postecoglou, but a second title in his second season in Scotland still very much looks inevitable with just six points from a possible 15 required. Player of the match – Kevin van Veen – Postecoglou won’t allow complacency – analysis It is hard to be too critical of a team who have now racked up a remarkable 92 points from a possible 99 on offer this term. Bumps in the road are inevitable, but Postecoglou will be keen to ensure complacency doesn’t creep into his players’ mindset, especially with an Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final to come next Sunday. A repeat of Saturday’s performance at Hampden could end Celtic’s hopes of a treble, but Postecoglou’s men are still well on course for the title and may well smash club records in the process. Five wins from their final five league games would beat the club’s record points haul of 106, while they are also on course to score 119 league goals, which would beat the current record of 116. Until Saturday, Celtic hadn’t dropped points at home since a draw against Rangers in May last year. To become the first team to take anything away from the east end of Glasgow in almost 12 months is a mightily impressive feat.
The Fir Park club have lost just twice from nine games under the stewardship of Kettlewell and now look good to secure their top-flight status after the split. There is still work to do, but with a six-point advantage and a superior goal difference than 10th-placed Dundee United and 11th-placed Kilmarnock, you have to imagine one win will be more than enough