The boys simply ran out of steam
Grimshaw felt plan to frustrate Hoops was working
MOTHERWELL 2 -5 CELTIC Motherwell defender Liam Grimshaw was defiant his team’s tactics to try and halt the Hoops were right - they simply ran out of energy to see it through.
The Steelmen put in a breathless first-half performance, taking the lead through Liam Donnelly’s fine volley.
The home side were trying to hustle and harry the visitors off the park, pressing very high up the pitch.
Kristoffer Ajer drew the champions level though, before Scotland international Leigh Griffiths fired in a trademark free-kick to give the visitors a half-time lead.
While Celtic went on to win convincingly, former Manchester United youth Grimshaw defended his teammates and told the claret and amber fans there’s still plenty to get excited about this season.
He said: “It was a bit harsh (the scoreline).
“Certainly for the first 40 minutes we played really well.
“We put a lot of energy into it and when they scored the second it came at a bad time.
“We were still in it at 2-1 but the game got a bit stretched and they have quality and pace on the break.
“It ended up fizzling out a bit for us but we can take positives from the first half especially.
“If we play like that every week we’ve every chance of improving on our position from last season (eighth).
“Our wingers were an important part of our improvement at the back end of last season.
“Once everyone is up to speed then hopefully they can have a big impact.”
The Hoops hadn’t won at the home of the Steelmen since December 2016.
Even so Neil Lennon made four changes to his side - most notably Christopher Jullien coming in for his debut in defence in place of the suspended Jozo Simunovic.
Motherwell gaffer Stephen Robinson also freshened up his side from their opening 0-0 draw away at Livingston.
He made three changes, with Grimshaw stepping in for the suspended Jake Carroll.
Up front Christopher Long and Sherwin Seedorf came in, replacing James Scott and Christian Ilic.
Well raced out of the traps and took an early lead through Donnelly’s crisp volley.
Celtic hit back almost instantly when Ajer slotted home after racing on to an excellent James Forrest pass.
The visitors vitally took the lead just before the break, when Griffiths fired home a free-kick that keeper Mark Gillespie could have postitioned himself better for.
The hosts were hanging on but when Lennon threw on key players Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Scott Sinclair the Hoops’ quality eventually paid off.
Forrest danced his way through the box to net the third, before Edouard slotted in from the edge of the box.
Christie put the gloss on from the penalty spot before Donnelly netted a late consolation.
Grimshaw’s attention has already turned to this Friday’s League Cup showdown with Hearts.
He is hoping the Fir Park side can manage another good cup run this season.
He added: “We’re trying to play a certain brand of football.
“It’s one thing doing that against Celtic but against other teams it might be easier and we might score a couple of early goals.
“We will stick to it and hopefully keep improving.
“There’s loads of positives to take from the game and lessons to be learned.
“Hopefully we can put that into practice against Hearts on Friday.”
Kick-off is at 7.45pm. Celtic Rangers Ross County Aberdeen St Mirren Hamilton Hibernian Livingston Hearts Motherwell St Johnstone Kilmarnock