THE finger of blame was being pointed at Brendan Rodgers after Celtic failed to beat a Motherwell side who had lost eight times in 14 games prior to their kick off at Fir Park.
There’s no doubt it was a hugely disappointing result for the Hoops with fans justified in feeling that it was a case of three points dropped.
Although there seems to be some debate as to who to blame for failing to get a win against Motherwell.
Brendan Rodgers is the easy target after the boss made seven changes to his side that beat Aberdeen to win the Scottish League Cup final but, on the balance of play, the side that Rodgers put out could and should have won.
Filip Benkovic’s disallowed effort was described as a ‘perfectly good goal’ by Rodgers and you’d have to admit the official got that one wrong and disrupted Celtic’s rhythm.
When you add to that Leigh Griffiths’ missed penalty, you begin to realise the chances were there to be out of sight by half-time.
Not taking your chances will come back to haunt any team and that is exactly what happened when Danny Johnson fired in from an acute angle on 88 minutes.
As ? as you like! ? #MOTCEL pic.twitter.com/QCZuXv0zk1
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 5, 2018
Johnson’s strike was a very well-taken goal and you can’t forget Celtic were only a couple minutes away from a win with a second string side.
What would the headlines have read had they held on?
You can be sure Rodgers wouldn’t be coming in for as much stick even if the performance wasn’t the most fluent we’ve seen from the Bhoys for a while.
With that being said, the frustration is perfectly reasonable, especially when you consider Motherwell were 25/1 to finish bottom of the league but the players should take the brunt of it.
It was a night for slip-ups as Rangers were rolled over at home by Aberdeen but it’s hard to say whether that makes the draw with Motherwell more palatable or not.
Kilmarnock were the big winners of the night as they went top after Kilmarnock beat Livingston 2-0 at home but at 66/1 to win the SPL, you’d have been right to think their stay at the top would be a short one.
They were no match for the Hoops’ firepower.
Celtic are still outright favourites at 1/10 to claim their eighth league title in a row and given the form during the build-up to, and the aftermath of, the Motherwell game, you’d have to say Celtic still look well placed to steam ahead, especially with a game in hand.
Rotation is key if Celtic are to enjoy a run in the Europa League which they are outsiders currently at 100/1 to win. Punters who back Rodgers rotation policy to help Celtic claim European glory can claim a £100 free Betfair bet from free bets UK.
1 – Celtic picked up their first ever away win in the Europa League, on what was their 17th attempt (previously D8 L8). Addressed. pic.twitter.com/7A6R9ah85r
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 29, 2018
No real harm has been done by only coming away from Fir Park with a point given the other results in the league.
The Hoops are well set in all of the competitions they are in and should begin to put some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in the SPL.
