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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31st minute Higdon has another kick at a Celtic player. Spoken to by MIB. Not booked, much to Burley’s surprise.
Well said Mr Romanov. He has mair baw hairs in his nose than our entire board have ever had.
HH
Great result.
Shoddiest refreeing I’ve seen in long and weary. Breaking up play in the second half at every opportunity. Giving decisions that a blind man would have blushed at. Missing corners etc.
But allowing thugs like Lasley and jenning 3 (3!!!!!) free tackles before the card comes out?
Shameful, sub-standard refereeing.
Forget Bias – let’s get the dross out of Scottish refreeing first.
I know where I stand with bias. That’s a constant companion when you’re a Celtic supporter.
Richmond – not fit for purpose – never mind other’s agendas.
U
MWD
Hello! No not yet. Watched the game on this new fangled thingy called the internet
.. I kinda stumbled into it..its dead good so it is. What about them bloody murderwellonians eh?
i forgot we should av had a pen too
thot there goal was offside
wiznae
Dumb and Dumber
The thug had the option on who he would kick,
The referee smiled “help yourself, take your pick”
The thug he obliged, kicking out a lump,
The player, his target, fell with a thump.
The rules of football seem to have changed,
Or is it just me, becoming estranged,
No protection for players of this one team,
With the bias of referees becoming extreme.
Think this is sour grapes? Just watch the game,
Blatant fouls go unpunished as they set out to maim,
This refusal to protect players what have the SFA become?
A glaring injustice sees everyone struck dumb.
Those same tackles on a blue jersey, the ref books 1st challenge, takes sting out of game, then let’s rangers dominate. Sfa still a joke mr regan, what’s your compliance officer doin? The only compliance I see, is regan compliance to an association steeped in bigotry.
i think our refs are no that bad
spoton when the huns are playing
we NEVER get the 50/50 decisions either
hun bias runs throughout scottish society
I can just see the EPL selecting a championship referee for 2nd v 3rd in the league
The SPL / SFA are joke organisations
Good win ground out.
I think the most biased or corrupt refereeing performance I have seen outside of the usual suspects in recent times (McCurry McDonald and Dallas) was by Charlie Richmond in games against Hamilton in the cup which went to a replay. He cheated Hamilton out of progression in the cup. Simple as that. Every 50/50 went to Rangers and like today fouls/corners/throw-ins went the wrong way–always in favour of Rangers.
Radio Scotland’s defence of his performance by Murdo the Mason just confirms my view of him.
Thommo asked about Bolo Zenden when being interviewed by radio shortbread after the game, said he came over a couple of days ago, trained yesterday, will stay this week and he wants to sign.
Could be the experienced head/playmaker in midfield we need, especially if the 4-2-3-1 is to become the formation of choice (as it should).
Uly
Charlie Richmonds reappearance and subsequent very famaliar performance raises enough circumstantial evidence to call out Reagan and FLEMING especially.
Under the new openess can we get a glimpse of the supervisors report.
If we hear nothing after that can we expect DD to be Craig Whytes new secret backer ?
HH
Dallas’s give Celtic anything ,and you are dropped for future games,goes
on and on.
Was in G64’s hoose watching game(thanks for hospitality)
we talking about the huns game at Parkheid when dallas gave
his simply the best performance ever.
How Celtic let that masonic cretin ever ref us again,is a crime.
If the club don’t make an oficial complaint about the treatment our players received today, I am for giving up this sham of watching scottish football.
Lenny I say again play Paddy from the start maybe not for the whole 90minutes but play him from the start.He is without doubt the most gifted player we have.
still raging
Celtic proved on Thursday night that they can play football against proper footballers. Excellent three points to-day despite Motherwell attempts to kick them out the gate and down the road.
A youngster like Forrest needs plenty of guts to play in that kind of company. Let’s hope we haven’t added to our injury list after to-day’s kickfest.
“Celtic manager Neil Lennon praised his players for winning under pressure at Motherwell.
Lying third at kick-off, the Hoops needed to beat the home side at Fir Park to narrow the gap to Rangers to 12 points.
And they came from behind to win 2-1 with goals from Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper in reply to Michael Higdon’s early opener for Motherwell.
The victory was their second this week, coming after Thursday’s 3-1 Europa League win over Rennes at Parkhead.
“On the back of what was a really physical game on Thursday to come here and win, it speaks volumes for the players,” Lennon told ESPN.
“We know they’ve got it. They’ve got talent in abundance.” “
TimJim says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:13
Keep Paddy as an impact sub every time. He’s more influential when the game is stretched in the last 20-30 minutes. For the SPL, unfortunately, we need grafters in the midfield to win the battle before our skillful players can take over.
Kayal33 says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:12
Zenden would be a terrific signing in my opinion.
We are going to win this league.
whilst i agree we looked far more comfortable at the back than of late,i thought we were very very lucky to win.
our players looked every bit the same level as motherwells..infact our lack of pressure on the motherwell goal was pretty alarming considering what was at stake.
celtic[and rangers] usually dominate in almost all areas of the domestic games they play against the diddy teams in the SPL.
lennon got out of jail today but you can be sure that there is another domestic disaster just waiting for us in the next few weeks.
anyone who cant see this is just deluding themselves.we are rank rotten and any team with georgio samaras in the starting eleven is in serious trouble.he is consistantly the most inept player i have ever seen in a celtic jersey,a complete disgrace of a footballer…
motherwell would be lucky to survive league 1 in england and we looked around their level today..a win is a win but we should also face facts .this celtic team is completely average.we dont even pass the ball properly anymore.lennons desperate situation is obviously now reflecting on his desired way of playing the game…get a new man in with some new ideas ASAP.
i guarantee in a few weeks time we will have reached the point of no return in the S.P.L.
the blind loyal brigade on here and amongst our support need to open their eyes.
Tough game today.
M/well and SMcC were playing “Buddy Ball” today and the ref had read the script.
Differential Effort?
How many fouls, cheap shots, tackles put in?
Compare and contrast with their efforts against the TFOD.
CR got started early with the basics – don’t award corners – every little helps.
The look on SMcC face with 2 minutes to go showed a devotion to the cause above and beyond that required by his M/well wage packet. You have to wonder if unorthodox funding streams were available to certain elements of the M/well team to strain every sinew?
M/well vs TFOD compared to M/well vs Us.
If it doesn’t make sense then why doesn’t it make sense?
Serenity says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:07
Spot on again,what an embarrassing league we play in.
Sfa/spl maybe if teams tried to play football ,rather than kick the tim we
maybe get money in from the telly folk.
Just back from the ground.
that was a hard won victory, achieved with more graft than style, until Paddy came.
Lots of players running on empty at the end (Forrest, Wanyama, Sammi & Stokes) but still finding small pockets of energy to charge things down.
We are not world beaters but we are back to giving our all and that is the start of the recovery.
Well done to everyone at Celtic and a big welcome to Dylan McGeough, another promising youngster.
Motherwell kicked us hard today and the ref was totally lost. Whose bright idea was it to give Charlie Richmond such a high profile game on his return from an 18 month suspension?
BelfastCityCelt says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:15
Zenden playing in the position Commons played today could make the difference Commons did in the second half of last season.
lazydynamite says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:16
Nine players out injured.
Clown face.
With due deference to Serenity
I want to kick Forrest
well just join the queue
I want to kick Commons
Oh please after you
No fear of a yellow
from this man in black
No fear of a booking
So just have a hack
The rules are forgotten
the rules are ignored
just kick who you wish
from this Celtic Hoard
Well done Lenny and the boys. I hear faint rumblings.
Wonder if Murderwell have been paying their taxes?
For goodness sake.
Does anybody still need a big arrow pointing in the direction of how Celtic are going to be ruined?
All out assault on our players without any protection from the referee. Who is going to want to play for us? Play for Celtic and get a broken leg. You’ll not even win a foul.
Custodians need to earn their money here.
All credit to neil Lennon and Celtic who won a game they weren’t permitted to win.
Motherwell may you burn in hell.
Lazy
Sammy was immence today, just like Thursday.
lAZYDYNAMITE……I trust the dynamite is suitable positioned in the vicinity of your erse……that wasn’t a game of football today…….we prevailed in the face of a physical battle against a horde of mindless bigots (including MIB)…….your eyes are painted oan….!!!
lazydynamite
Go and stick one of you name sakes up your jaksie and light it
Kayal33 says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:17
I concur.
Such a player.Reports state that he keeps himself in great condition,so no fitness concerns.
Even if he is just half the player that he was – he will still do some damage.
coz if not they can probably get an exemption on wages being paid by another club
45th minute, Jennings booked. As Burley says, it should have come a lot earlier. The MIB should not be allowed to ref again.
lazydynamite says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:16
the blind loyal brigade on here and amongst our support need to open their eyes.
***************
I suggest you are the the blind loyal brigade
Calling agent Richmond ….return to Dallas island ..repeat return to Dallas island.