Celtic restored their seven-point lead at the top of the table as they produced one of the narrow football scores of the midweek action in the Scottish Premiership. In Lanarkshire in October, Ange Postecoglou’s team won the League Cup easily, but they weren’t as confident in this most recent encounter. The opening goal was scored by Kyogo Furuhashi in the fifteenth minute after Jota’s incredible goal had been disallowed for offside in the buildup. When Daizen Maeda, a replacement, scored with six minutes left, it appeared that the game was lost. However, Ross Tierney’s goal just a few seconds after gave the home crowd hope for a late comeback. After failing to hand Celtic its first-midweek league loss since May 2016, Motherwell is still in ninth place.
Before giving up a simple goal in the 15th minute, Motherwell was not given much of a chance. Matt O’Riley was dispossessed by Callum Slattery after a good initial tracking-back effort, but when he dallied with the ball, the Celtic midfielder won it back with a sliding challenge. O’Riley sent in a low cross, which Furuhashi headed in from the edge of the penalty area. After only 21 minutes of his first start in three months, center-back Bevis Mugabi was injured, dealing the home team yet another blow. Sondre Solholm took his place.
Before giving up a simple goal in the 15th minute, Motherwell was not given much of a chance. When Moult’s looping header from Matt Penney’s cross bounced over the bar and O’Donnell blasted a strike wide of the near post, they both came tantalizingly close to scoring. When Penney’s throw-in found former Motherwell midfielder David Turnbull, Celtic’s lead was doubled. Maeda blasted a shot underneath Kelly after the substitute provided a flawless ball over the top. The home team argued that there had been an infraction as Penney was executing the throw, but video assistant referee David Dickinson did not summon Collum to his monitor. Two minutes later, Tierney scored a goal from 12 yards after latching onto Slattery’s lofted free kick, but Celtic held on to win.
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