Paddy McCourt was the difference between the teams today as Celtic came from behind for the second time in three days to beat Motherwell at Celtic Park, securing second spot in the league. Craig Higdon opened the scoring for Motherwell after 11 minutes with a header from a corner kick but Anthony Stokes levelled, also from a corner, two minutes later. Substitute Gary Hooper scored the winner late on.
Despite a sprightly first minute Celtic were on the back foot for most of the opening period and it was no surprise Motherwell opened the scoring. Nor was the manner in which they lost the goal a surprise. Tom Hately crossed from a short corner which Celtic slept at, failing to mark-up. The defence also pushed out in instalments, leaving Craig Higdon free six yards from goal to head home.
Celtic immediately pushed forward and Georgios Samaras flicked a Kris Commons header onto Stokes at the back post, who volleyed into the net.
A Commons free kick was blocked by Samaras, whose shot was saved. Thomas Rogne headed a Commons’ corner on target but the ball was blocked on the line. On the half hour mark Higdon drew a good save from Fraser Forster.
Four minutes into the second half Stokes should have given Celtic the lead when he latched onto a long ball from Daniel Majstorovic which evaded the defence but Darren Randolph closed the space. On 54 minutes the lively Stokes cut-back for Commons who took one touch too many and was robbed. Fraser Forster was called into action again soon thereafter when he blocked a Nicky Law effort.
Paddy McCourt replaced Samaras with 15 minutes to go and transformed the game. On 79 minutes he collected the ball inside his own half, drifted through a nervous looking Motherwell midfield until he reached the edge of the D before feeding Stokes on the left. Stokes made space before rifling the ball into the six yard box for Gary Hooper to score the winner.
Tim Clancy was shown a straight red card late on for kicking Gary Hooper. If referee Charlie Richmond had taken an earlier opportunity to control Lasley or Jennings, Gary Hooper, James Forrest and Beram Kayal would perhaps have finished the game with fewer injuries.
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suttons volley says:
7 November, 2011 at 00:06
Evening Gents
What time is the kick off for the Athletico Madrid game? Want to go but if its a 6PM start then its a struggle
6pm
fan-a-tic says:
6 November, 2011 at 23:57
Fraser has been getting better and better, he is still very young in goalkeeping terms but his willingness to improve his game is obvious. Last season he got better as the campaign went on, I can understand him starting this season slowly with uncertainty about his future.
He has made some incredible saves over the last few weeks, I’d like to make him a bit more mental so he can be a stereo typical goalie though. :P
iki
6:00 m8 sorry.
Cheers guys
just checked the fixture list so 6PM its is, bit of a struggle cos I work in town till 5 but think I’ll go for it.
Quick pint in Failte then a brisk walk to paradise
We will win the league, look at the players we have missed and if we win our game in hand we’re only 6 points behind AIB
HH
Good to see Lenny decide when he’ll talk to the meeja, great tactic last season, they were lost when they could’nt direct the aganda. Keep them in the dark Lenny.
night night to all good tims
hail hail
sorry 9 pouint behind the AIB
Suttons volley – If we win every game between ow and January I’ll entertain ideas of challenging for SPL…but not after 2 wins from 6 SPL games I won’t
petec
@TheHumanTorpedo
Cultsbhoy
We have been missing Izzy, Commons & Brown. 3 of our most effective players, you take McGregor, David & Jelavic out the team of all things evil and watch them struggle.
We’re all a bit gutted at the way we’ve started but united we stand divided we fall!!
I think some of our players have now realised that their not as good as they thought and that in the SPL you need to win the fight before you win the game
HH
Pete
I love the idea of big Fraser developing a mental streak.
Maybe he should room with Broonie for a bit.
Pete
Sorry about the name.
To old to be using these new fangled pads
Petec
Finally
TopCorner says:
7 November, 2011 at 00:46
Thanks for the link.
fan-a-tic
You can call me whatever ye want m8, lol.
Great comment actually about Fraser rooming with Broonie. It is these wee nuggets that can really help Celtic.
I don’t know if it actually happened but did Neil get the Bhoys to watch portrait of ulysses Amazing Link from a few weeks back?
It was one of the best ever links on this site IMO.
It may well have done that trick Thursday.
Philbhoy – It’s just the beginning! says:
6 November, 2011 at 16:27
Barcabhoy
If you stop behaving like a hun, I won’t call you a hun.
It’s easy, if you think about it.”
My understanding of hun behaviour is intolerant, abusive and narrow minded………….although as you regularly prove thats not limited to Rangers supporters
I say that because it was mentioned a couple of times on here over the weekend.
If true, then Neil truly is in touch with the fans and appreciates Celtic Fans and what they can bring to His players not only when they are on the field but when they are off it.
Barcabhoy,
Real Madrid are looking a lot better this season teamwise, do you think Barca will still take the title.
I think they will win it on the head to heads myself, Mourinho is very good at what he does, winning games consistently but I think Barca are like a poetic team in full motion just about every game, when they have to they can keep the ball off Any team in the world for more than 2/3rds of the game whilst always probing for openings, even a very strong RM.
YEEZ HAV AWE LOST IT
FORSTER ISSHOITE
HE IS WATS WRONG
WITH THE DEFENCE
WISE UP FFS
GET A GOOD KEEPER
ROGNE DAN ARE GOOD DEFENDERS
HES PISH
Watching SSN at mo….Does anyone think that Martin Jol looks alot like Tony Sapranio lol
HAHA Grant Adam Rangers goalkeeper has been arrested in Glasgow tonight for Sectarian breach of the peace
Petec
I am less confident than in previous seasons. I think it is too close to call
I think there was a lot to like about this performance. Our much maligned central defence stood firm after the early set back and managed to subdue a rampaging thug of a striker of the type we usually have problems with.
In midfield Kayal had his best game for a long time and Wanyama looked tidy and efficient.
Up front Stokes is on fire. I posted a month or so ago that if we were to salvage anything from this season Stokes would be central to the fightback. This is proving to be correct as he is now clearly our number one striker. Samaras should also be given loads of credit for a good performance despite being constantly fouled. He didnt lose much in the air all day and his flick on for the first goal was excellent.
Refereeing was abject. The sheer volume of assualts on Celtic players was breathtaking as was the unwillingness of Richmond to deal with them Even Burley felt the need to question the lack of yellow cards. Its been many years since Ive seen such a concerted effort to kick us off the park but to their credit the players rallied and stood up.
On the goalkeeping situation FF has some good and bad moments, clearly there is potential there but IMO he’s never a first choice Celtic keeper in a million years. He would be good back up but for me nothing more. The Pletikosa situation perplexes me to this day.
Sheik Yerbouti –
Classless! Completely and utterly classless!
My glass is half full.
Celtic have now gone on a run of 7 games undefeated.
Tom McLaughlin says:
7 November, 2011 at 02:33
And with 2 of their best players out of the team who should be back soon.
My son was in the company of a Motherwell player on Thursday and on the back their conversation, he told me he hoped Celtic would have a strong referee at Fir Park and voiced his hope that Lenny isn’t burdened by more injuries.
20 minutes into the game, I truly appreciated what was happening. Those Motherwell players were instructed to “get stuck in” and to harm Celtic players. What concerns me is that it is obvious that such instructions were delivered in the knowledge that there would be a compliant- ie cheating – referee in charge of proceedings.
He have to get out of this league.
When the likes of Craig Burley is criticising the referee for failing/refusing to punish violent tackles, and later starts laughing as Richmond, for the second time in the game, awards a Motherwell goal-kick instead of a Celtic corner, we know the game is well and truly a bogey.
petec –
Good point.
We’re on our way.
Tom – We are Always Together no matter what.
You might scratch your heid what I have posted in the past, and I may even lament at times what you post.
Celtic – Absolutely Magic beyond any comprehension, there has never been an adhesive like this that can bring together so many people in support of such a noble cause.
Celtic yesterday, like they have been all season have hardly given away a foul in any games, go and watch them all.
The Bookings tally is ridiculous and totally makes a mockery of all this SFA reformed Crap.
I was highly suspicious of the amount of games away after the Uefa games but that can be just random chance so you cannae call that out.
Collina is widely regarded as the fairest referee in my lifetime, he never flinched from making a fair call in every big game I seen him officiate – it was incredible the standards he set.
I would expect, he of all people, would want to see Referees who are officiating with integrity first and foremost. I would get this man to go over all this seasons Rangers and Celtic games and ask him the question.
Corruption has to be stamped out wherever it is.
Kevin Bridges
Grounded. ;)
In case anyone’s interested…
http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/glasgow/a1-sporting-memorabilia/1440212?nlp=&CID=UK_CRM_1_0_0_311&a=19
This would be a great auction lot for charity.
Morning Celts, bliddy freezing in NW of engerlund…….
Well done the Celts and Lenny, gritty performance… Away to scrape the car.
V
HH
Good morning friends from East Kilbride where a beautiful sunrise is in progress under a cloudless sky. For the first time this season it’ll be time for the ole scraper for the windscreen.
Jobo
A chilly start in the Rebel County…
I haven’t read back yet, but did we hear much from the sleekit hunderminers?
It’s good to be a Tim.
HH
Neil Francis Lennon
I wonder how many bookings Neil got for tackles in Scotland, the amount would be miniscule for such a combative midfielder, almost Gary Linekeresque.
I see a true Barcelona style towards playing the game in Scotland from Neils management.
It may well be best to get Davie Hay on board to whisper quiet words in the the ears of our combatants who are midfielders, always good to hear it from Celtic Legends.
Davie Hay, is my kind of man, hard as nails and a True team orientated person, exactly like Neil.
No need to broadcast things, having him impartng his knowledge to these young players would be incredibly beneficial at this time.
Good morning from MK.
It was a great performance in so many respects yesterday and delivered in spite of the sustained assault and battery on Celtic players that were sanctioned by the Motherwell manager and assisted by an incompetent or openly biased referee, you take your pick.
I’d agree with ‘Celtic Mac’s’ point @ 14.32
Paul67 et al
There is simply no point in looking to the likes of Charlie Richmond to protect our players, we need to do that ourselves. When Jennings lunged in on Commons early doors, we should be round him and Richmond like a rash. Tell both in no uncertain terms that we’re not gonna take it. Spare me the constant whining, do it where it matters, on the pitch. We lost the league at Fir Park and Inverness last season, but we won today, because we had the right attitude running through the team, and the bench. Lets see if we can repeat that at Inverness in two weeks, if we do we will come back with three points!
After all these years Jock Stein’s mantra still rings true that there’s only one place to win the argument and that’s on the pitch were we need not only to win the games and but also show solidarity against the cloggers, hackers and cheats.
A special mention for Wanyama who I thought was brilliant yesterday.
murdochbhoy
I actually thought big Victor had his least effective game yesterday no bad for a 20yo linchpin. The big chap still gave it his all and got a 7/10 easily.
The next time we have to visit that horrible place I would expect Victor to introduce the Real VICTOR to the cowardly natives.
We have a £20Million player on our hands IMO.
.
VHman..
Re; Surfers Paradise..
Please Please Please.. When Your @ SP.. Please travel down and Visit Byron Bay.. My Fav Place in The World.. 1hr from SF.. You will Love it.. Also from there You can Visit Nimbin (Google it lol)..
Summa ft HippieTownsCSC
Having to entertain young MWD yesterday instead of taking my pew in the pub for the game I had to rely on CQN for live commentary and then the BBC for highlight footage of the game.
Can I just say. After watching the highlight footage I can say, that to a man, CQNers are paranoid fools.
The BBC footage has shown me that you cannot believe for one minute what you read on CQN.
There was hardly a tackle of note in the match never mind the thuggery portrayed on these pages.
Motherwell looked worthy of a victory.
Richmond had a wonderful game as referee showing all the way forward
Lasley is fine honest professional.
I truly cannot imagine just were this Celtic paranoia comes from Bhoys.
All the imagined, fouls, free-kicks, penalties, assaults etc.
Reign it in Bhoys. You really are making a brigade of fools of yourselves.
MWD Tongue firmly in cheek award winner 2011.
I cannae wait to catch that Danny Boeing 717 that sounds like a hell of a Trip.
:))
Hail Hail m8