The good ...the bad and the Hatate
Reo hits winner but apologises for CalMac red
Reo Hatate smashed Celtic back to the top of the table with a stunning winner then spent the aftermath apologising to captain Callum McGregor for getting him sent off.
The Japanese midf ielder’s sensational 25-yarder lit up Celtic Park, which had been shocked into silence by Josip Juranovic’s bizarre own goal that had levelled Kyogo Furuhashi’s opener.
But with Motherwell throwing bodies forward in the dying minutes, Hatate was short with a pass to McGregor, forcing the midfielder to haul down Ross Tierney as he bore down on goal.
Stephen Welsh was covering but John Beaton produced the red card to the dismay of McGregor and Hatate – as Hoops left-back Greg Taylor revealed afterwards.
Taylor said: “Reo was very apologetic, which he didn’t have to be because he’s the reason we won. He’s got high standards but nobody was expecting an apology.
“He has been outstanding thus far. He’s a top player and got the winner when the game was in the balance. I’m sure he’ll continue to progress into a real top player.”
Sometimes the grind can be as important as the glitz and yesterday Celtic had to grind their way to the three points.
Ange Postecoglou’s men started the match sitting second in the Premiership, courtesy of Rangers’ win at Tynecastle.
The Hoops also had to right the wrongs of their last display, where a 364- day unbeaten league run came to a grinding halt in Paisley at the hands of St Mirren.
For all their early territorial advantage, Celtic had only one
Jota shot straight at keeper Liam Kelly before they moved ahead in the 15th minute.
It was all relatively simple. Jota hung up a cross from the left for Matt O’Riley to power a header towards Kelly from eight yards and Furuhashi jabbed home the rebound from a couple of feet out.
McGregor should have doubled the lead six minutes later but skied his left-foot shot miles over.
As the half hour approached, Well blew a great chance to level when Barry Maguire, alone on the six-yard line, somehow failed to connect with Paul McGinn’s cross.
The width of the bar denied Juranovic a spectacular 20-yard free-kick counter 10 minutes from the break and the Croatian’s luck was even more out seconds later when he gave away a crazy OG.
Celtic cleared a corner to the edge of the box where Blair Spittal helped it back into the danger zone. Juranovic lost his bearings and in trying to chest the ball back to Joe Hart, knocked it past the keeper, who threw himself at it in vain as it crossed the line.
The home side thought they’d retaken the lead a minute from the break when Hatate’s long range shot thudded off Kelly’s lefthand post and fell for Furuhashi whose diving header flew wide.
Postecoglou’s team had cause for concern when Hart was felled going for a high ball and needed treatment before continuing.
As the hour approached, the crowd was getting edgy and just as Postecoglou was about to make changes, Hatate changed everything with a super strike.
Lingering 25 yards out, Jota picked him out from a corner and the Japanese midfielder did the rest with a left footer that fizzed past Kelly.
Furuhashi should have finished it, somehow heading wide from point-blank range after good work from Liel Abada, who had replaced Daizen Maeda.
The drama wasn’t over. Hatate’s slack pass put McGregor in all kinds of trouble 30 yards from goal and when Tierney pounced the Hoops captain hauled him back and was red carded.
Celtic survived the five minutes of injury time and could have extended their lead through Abada in the dying seconds but the champs were just happy to put this one to bed.
Taylor admitted: “It’s the start of a really intense period, fighting in three competitions until the break, so it was important to start that off with a win. But there are a lot of improvements to be made.
“We’re an honest group where everyone wants to do well. We can’t always be at our best but it was important to get the points.
“We’ve got winners throughout the squad. We have different options to start or come off the bench. We have a squad which is very well equipped for these games coming up and hopefully we can show that.”