Celtic have all the answers
Emphatic comeback stuns Motherwell
THEY may not have sported the look of invincibles for much of this spectacular affair, but what cannot be denied is that Celtic’s players and — more importantly — their manager have shown they have the flexibility and mindset to work their way out of the most dire of situations.
Motherwell asked the kind of questions of Brendan Rodgers and his side that no other team in the Scottish Premiership had hitherto been capable of laying on the table. In the end, though, they were answered. Emphatically.
Two down at half-time to goals from Louis Moult and with Kolo Toure looking every bit as old and immobile in the back four as he did in his last outing — that 2-0 home loss to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League in October — it was going to take something special to maintain Celtic’s unbeaten domestic record.
Rodgers, calmly, laid it out to his men in the dressing-room. He describes his formation for the second half as ‘the back three, a diamond in midfield and the front three’.
At times, it looked even more offensive than that set-up. Yet, despite the gung-ho attitude, Celtic still looked to play passes, to break through in a structured fashion.
Callum McGregor, a first-half replacement for left-back Emilio Izaguirre, got them back into it three minutes after the restart with his team’s first goal.
Motherwell then looked unable to reorganise. Three goals in two incredible minutes left it 3-3 going into the closing stages.
Patrick Roberts had pulled Celtic level at 2-2 in the 70th minute, Lionel Ainsworth capitalised on more dreadful defending from the visitors to restore Motherwell’s lead before Stuart Armstrong restored parity.
That goal set up a pulsating finale, which saw Tom Rogic produce a clinical finish in the last minute to spark wild celebrations with the away support, which landed him a booking and saw a flare thrown onto the trackside.
It wasn’t the only flashpoint. Rodgers’ assistant Chris Davies became involved in a spat with those in the opposing technical area on the final whistle — retribution, it seems, for a row with Mark McGhee over the reigning champions’ pre-match warm-up.
A crazy day, one which gave the Celtic manager, in spite of many negatives, including a disappointing display from a subdued Moussa Dembele, so much encouragement.
‘It’s probably the most pleasing game we’ve had domestically, because we haven’t had that adverse situation before,’ said Rodgers.
‘I told them (the players) we found something out today because that was a real challenge. I didn’t go berserk at half-time. The back four were too deep and that didn’t allow us to press the game.
‘We had a choice. Do we continue with the shape we’ve been playing or do we put some risk into the game at 2-0? Massive credit to the players because they accepted that risk. They passed the ball really well and the quality of the goals was outstanding. It is another box ticked in terms of being asked a question.’
It became clear this was not going to run to the anticipated script early on. No offence to Stephen McManus, but you can sense something afoot when he is strolling around in defence like Franco Baresi.
Even in his best days for Celtic, McManus was more of a Franco Begbie (Robert Carlyle’s character in the movie Trainspotting), sticking the nut on everything that moved, no messing about. Yet, his role in a quite sublime opening goal cannot be understated.
He fired a long, perfectly-directed diagonal ball towards Moult. He peeled off Toure and brilliantly cushioned the ball over the advanced Craig Gordon and into the net on the volley. It was the first goal Celtic had conceded in 781 minutes of domestic action. And what a fitting effort to end such an impressive record. Firing diagonal passes between Toure and Izaguirre would become a factor in the first half. Motherwell saw vulnerability there — and they were right.
Even though Izaguirre was replaced by McGregor on the half-hour, the hosts scored their second five minutes later.
Ross MacLean robbed Mikael Lustig on the flank and, paying no attention to the Swede’s claims for a free-kick, fired another of those crosses into the designated danger area. Again, Moult drifted away from Toure — in for the unwell Erik Sviatchenko — and his first-time effort flew into the net.
How one tactical switch changed everything, though. McGhee couldn’t get his instructions onto the park quickly enough to cope with Rodgers’ rejig and McGregor played a one-two with Armstrong on the edge of the area before beating Craig Samson with a low shot.
‘They changed their formation at half-time and we struggled to cope with it,’ conceded Moult, who ended playing at left-back.
‘We ended up having no one up top and inviting pressure onto us. We were a little bit all over the shop when they scored their first.’
Relentless pressure delivered Celtic’s second goal when Roberts sent a downward header from an Armstrong cross into the net, but more dreadful defending allowed Motherwell to get back in front.
Ainsworth was permitted to score from open space at the back post after connecting with a decent Stevie Hammell cross.
Armstrong made it 3-3 seconds later, taking a pass from Roberts with his back to goal, rounding Richard Tait and then beating Samson with a low angled shot.
There seemed an inevitability around Rogic’s right-footed shot into the bottom corner after moving onto a pass from Jozo Simunovic.
‘It’s a hard place to come,’ said Rodgers. ‘I go back to when Scott McDonald scored two here (against Celtic) and the helicopter changed direction to drop off the trophy.’
Not this year. The destination of the title is already decided.