The highwire act that is Celtic’s attempt to overhaul Hearts and defend their Premiership title continues in nerve-shredding form.
With the second half at the midway stage and wide man Yang Hyun-jun having cancelled out an Eli Just opener to put the hosts level at 1-1, this utterly absorbing game was anyone’s for the taking.
Motherwell, galvanised by the unshakeable belief of their impressive head coach Jens Berthel Askou, had swaggered into the lion’s den and shown the confidence to just be themselves — setting their stall out and imposing themselves on the encounter from the first whistle.
At that point, they had enjoyed the majority of the possession. A rarity for the visiting team in these parts, even with Celtic not exactly boasting a team for the ages.
For significant periods, Martin O’Neill’s side had been forced to sit in and let them knock the ball around. Yes, the Fir Park side’s commitment to passing at all costs — and in all situations — had got them into hot water and led to Yang’s equaliser, but that, we already know, can happen. They ain’t changing now.
Outwith that aberration, Askou’s men had been so impressive. So brave.
Celtic hero Yang Hyun-jun is hailed by team-mates after claiming his second of the afternoon
The game was charging from end to end. With every misplaced ball from the home side, the tension among the home following became ever more evident. They had just had an appeal for a penalty turned down on the hour mark when Tawanda Maswanhise went down in the area under pressure from Benjamin Arthur after a Just shot had been deflected and spun high in the air.
That’s when a rush of blood from Emmanuel Longelo changed everything and delivered the kind of sliding-doors moment that can alter the course of championship races.
Home substitute Luke McCowan fired a ball to the back post from the right and Daizen Maeda moved to get his head onto it. Longelo had an arm round him, though, and the Japanese forward went to ground.
Quite how referee John Beaton didn’t notice it is a conversation topic in itself. VAR Kevin Clancy did, though, and directed his colleague to the monitor. And that was that.
Celtic were correctly given the spot-kick, converted by substitute Tomas Cvancara with a shot straight down the middle, and Longelo was sent packing for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Game over.
Cvancara, on for Sebastien Tounekti at half-time, has looked pretty unconvincing since arriving at the end of the January window. His penalty against Rangers last weekend, though, and this effort from 12 yards has the champions still dreaming of the most unlikely double.
In the end, with Motherwell reduced to 10 men, Celtic won with something to spare thanks to Yang’s second 11 minutes from time.
Eli Just had the visiting fans in dreamland when he rifled Motherwell ahead in the first half
You just wonder how long it can go on like this, though. The champions aren’t playing well. They are scraping by more often than not. Motherwell were upset about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, rusty and relatively quiet throughout, getting away with a yellow card for an early foul on Just that they believed might well have been worthy of a red.
Celtic have perfectly winnable fixtures against Dundee United, Dundee and St Mirren — all bottom-six sides — before the split, but can they keep churning out results afterwards against a better standard of opposition? Can O’Neill keep working the oracle and carry on getting them over the line through sheer force of will as much as anything?
We’ll soon see. There were certainly times in this affair, though, when it looked like the wheels might be about to come off the cart. None more so than on 32 minutes when Just, such an excellent player and understandably attracting attention from Celtic and elsewhere, gave the visitors a perfectly merited lead.
Reo Hatate was robbed by Elliot Watt inside his own area, with the Motherwell midfielder moving the ball onto Callum Slattery. He, in turn, shifted it wide to Just on the left-hand side of the area and the New Zealand international did the rest in fine style.
His left-footed drive was expertly struck and whizzed past home goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo at the near post on its way into the net.
Amid the celebrations, the reaction of Hatate was impossible to miss. He stayed down on all fours inside the box, his head bowed. He knew he’d made one almighty mess of things.
Mercifully for him, Celtic got themselves back into it six minutes later. Motherwell, though, were the architects of their own downfall.
Yang slips the ball beyond Motherwell goalkeeper Calum Ward to draw Celtic level
They play the way they play. It’s the adherence to Askou’s demands to take the ball under pressure, keep passing, keep offering options that has got them where they are. It makes them so great to watch.
It’s what also leaves you looking through the cracks of your fingers at times and that’s what happened in the lead-up to the equaliser. They passed their way into trouble in the far corner and just couldn’t bring themselves to hoof it and get out of the mire.
Kieran Tierney advanced up the left for Celtic and lost the ball. It could have been cleared then. It wasn’t. In the end, Tom Sparrow was short with a backwards pass towards Stephen O’Donnell inside his own penalty area and Benjamin Nygren stole in to gain possession.
The Swede did well to make it to the bye-line and hook the ball into the area. Goalkeeper Calum Ward was forced to intervene, but could only palm it out to Yang, who delivered a clinical low finish into the far corner.
At the start of the second half, the game threatened to go completely bonkers. Nygren hit a post for Celtic. Motherwell had that spot-kick claim. But, then, Longelo held onto Maeda that little too long and it all went to pot.
Askou had just thrown on a couple of subs to try and get back into things when Celtic broke upfield and Yang — who was on the verge of leaving last summer, remember — latched onto a long ball from Sinisalo before finishing emphatically.
Job done in the end, but, by Jove, it was a struggle. That’s how it is for Celtic most weeks, though. And they’re still in there fighting. Somehow.
Celtic (4-3-3): Sinisalo; Donovan (Ralston 78), Arthur, Scales, Tierney (Saracchi 78); Hatate, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Bernardo 78), Nygren (McCowan 62); Yang, Maeda, Tounekti (Cvancara 46). Booked: Oxlade-Chamberlain, Donovan, Hatate, Ralston.
Motherwell (4-3-3): Ward; O’Donnell, McGinn, Sparrow (McGhee 83), Longelo; Fadinger (Priestman 78), Watt, Slattery; Said (Bjorgolfsson 78), Maswanhise (Ross 90), Just (Nicholson 83). Booked: Just, Ward. Sent off: Longelo.
Referee: John Beaton.
Attendance: N/A.
