Sickener as Celtic stun Well at death
Jens Berthel Askou says it was three points lost for Motherwell against Celtic after a famous win escaped their grasp.
The Lanarkshire side gave as good as they got for long spells at Celtic Park, levelling Kelechi Iheanacho’s penalty opener as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos swept in Tawanda Maswanhise’s cross to level five minutes from the break.
Stamatelopoulos then put Motherwell ahead from the spot after Maswanhise was sent sprawling by
Marcelo Saracchi, 10 minutes in.
But sub Benjamin Nygren levelled in 69 minutes, before Daizen Maeda headed in a stoppage-time winner for the champions.
Motherwell boss Askou said: “If you analyse the result, no matter how many hours or days you spend, you will come to the conclusion that we lost, which is for us three points lost. We had the opportunity to get three points.
“If you analyse the performance, which is my job, I think we don’t have to watch the game again to confirm that we delivered an extremely good performance and gave ourselves the opportunity by giving it our best shot and playing to our strengths.
“There were spells when we had to sit low, because they have quality and they can speed up the game like no other team in this league.
“And I hoped we had just a few more calories to stand against that towards the end.
“Unfortunately we didn’t, but I’m extremely proud of the way we invested in the game not just to show up and get a scrappy draw, but to go and win it.”
Askou added: “I think we gave it our best shot.
“Celtic, especially in the last 20 minutes, played some of the best, most high-tempo football I’ve seen them play for a while.
“I’m happy they had to do that to beat us, that it wasn’t too easy for them.
“There are many things to learn when you play against the best.
“I think this team will grow.
“As a group, we were able to make it a really competitive game, maybe one of the best games in the league so far this season, in terms of entertainment, high intensity, and quality and bravery.
“Not many teams have scored twice here, maybe with a little bit of sharpness we could have got another goal.
“I think that’s something to take away with us that we are able to come to the big stadiums and be very competitive.”