Rodgers hails Sinclair after Bhoys’ late escape act

SUBSTITUTE Scott Sinclair’s 88th-minute penalty gave Celtic a dramatic 1-1 Ladbrokes Premiership draw at Motherwell and extended the Hoops’ unbeaten run to 66 games.

The league leaders, who had beaten their hosts 2-0 in the Betfred Cup final at Hampden Park on Sunday, fell behind with 12 minutes remaining when Mikael Lustig knocked the ball into his own net as he tried to clear a Craig Tanner free-kick.

However, with two minutes to go, after Callum McGregor went down under a challenge from substitute Andy Rose, Sinclair MOTHERWELL: Carson, Kipre, Hartley, Dunne, Tait, Campbell, McHugh (Bowman 75), Frear (Tanner 66), Cadden, Moult, Petravicius (Rose 45). Subs not used: Grimshaw, Bigirimana, Griffiths, Plummer. CELTIC: Gordon, Lustig (Edouard 81), Simunovic, Boyata, Tierney, Armstrong (Sinclair 73), Brown, Roberts (Rogic 11), McGregor, Forrest, Griffiths. Subs not used: Ntcham, De Vries, Sviatchenko, Ajer.

Man of the match: McGregor

Match rating: 7/10 Ref: William Collum

converted the spot-kick.

It was hard to take for the home side as Sinclair, who won a controversial penalty at the weekend when he went down easily under a challenge from Cedric Kipre, netted the equaliser — but it showed the determination of Brendan Rodgers’ side.

The teams meet again at Celtic Park on Saturday.

Ulsterman Rodgers said: “We’ve scored in every single domestic game since I’ve come in and we always believe we can score. I didn’t think it was a foul (for the free-kick that led to Motherwell’s goal).

“We’re unfortunate to score an own goal. Yet again, the question is asked of the players. I think you see why the run they’re on is such a special achievement because you can lose any game.

“I thought it was a penalty. We go through, we should score, the keeper gets back in and follows it up really well. I give credit to Callum because he reacts really quickly, the ball comes out and you see lots of those penalties.

“There’s nobody better in that situation — Scott scored two penalties for me at Wembley in front of over 90,000. I’ll always fancy him to score.”

Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson, Rodgers’ compatriot, said: “I’m disappointed for the boys,I’meversoproudofthem.

“It feels a wee bit like a defeat. But it shows their level of commitment and desire. I just want to talk about the football, not referees.” Tucked away: Scott Sinclair extends Celtic’s unbeaten run