Sore spot for Steelmen as Celts build up head of steam
Jota and Turnbull boost title bid but stand-in ref’s penalty KO sparks fury
THREE points, two sumptuous goals and one stonewall penalty claim against them turned down by a stand-in referee who pitched up at Fir Park expecting little more than an easy shift as fourth official.
Say what you like about Ange Postecoglou (below) but his time in charge at Celtic is rarely dull.
In truth, his side, marshalled superbly by Callum McGregor, did more than enough to deserve the victory here thanks to those uplifting interventions from Jota and David Turnbull.
They enjoyed the best of the play for long periods without carving out a huge number of gilt-edged chances. But that’s just them at the moment. They never make it easy for themselves.
They entered the game looking jittery at the back and finished it withstanding a degree of pressure from a Motherwell side that stuck to their task with commendable rigour.
It is the decision made by referee Chris Fordyce with 22 minutes left, though, that had the home side tearing their hair out and really thinking of what might have been.
Fordyce had been given the call to replace referee Willie Collum when he pulled up injured just before the half-hour. And at 2-0 midway through the second period, he made a real ricket of his one big call when somehow failing to point to the spot when Boli Bolingoli clearly handled in the area after Motherwell sub Kevin van Veen had attempted to knock the ball past him.
‘It was a 100-per-cent penalty,’ said Van Veen. ‘I took the ball on my chest and he said himself it was a penalty. He punched the ball away.
‘He also said to a few of our players during the game that it was a penalty. I spoke to the centre-back, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and he said it was a penalty as well. I said: “I know. I saw it with my own eyes”.
‘The referee was there and didn’t see it, but the linesman had clear vision to it.
‘It is just unfortunate we didn’t get it because it would have been a good time to get the penalty because there weren’t many chances at both ends and anything could have happened if we had got back to 2-1. It could have brought belief back to the team and we could maybe have got something.’
That’s a moot point, of course. Yet, with the Celtic defence the way it is, you never know what can happen. The early stages of the game showed that.
Just a matter of minutes in, goalkeeper Joe Hart got himself into a fankle when dealing with a short backpass from Carl Starfelt, only just managing to dink the ball away from the onrushing Jordan Roberts before getting rid of it.
Tony Watt then got himself clear of Starfelt on the right before putting a dangerous low ball to the back post, which Tony Ralston had to divert wide for a corner.
By the quarter-hour mark, though, Celtic had settled into a position of dominance and a squandered opportunity from Liel Abada — a mishit effort inside the box from a McGregor cutback — was followed by a delightful opener on 18 minutes.
Tom Rogic emerged with the ball from midfield and saw Jota on the left flank, actually pointing to where he wanted the pass to be placed as he prepared to use his pace to get behind full-back Stephen O’Donnell.
The Australian delivered it to a tee and his Portuguese team-mate, having put on the afterburners to leave O’Donnell sucking in fumes, first-timed a crisp and deadly effort between home keeper Liam Kelly and the near post.
Jota had another effort again at the midway period of the opening 45 with an acrobatic hitch-kick from a Ralston cross that took a hard bounce and zipped over the crossbar and it looked like Postecoglou’s side were building up a real head of steam.
That was, until Collum came a cropper. It looked like he pulled a calf muscle and the game was suspended as he stretched on the touchline, spoke to both managers and prepared for Fordyce — his last game as referee a League One spectacular between Queen’s Park and Peterhead on September 25 — to take over.
There were six minutes added on at the end of the half to make up for the disruption. Quite why Fordyce took so long to reappear from the dressing room is anyone’s guess. Settling nerves with something medicinal? Deleting historical tweets? Who knows?
What we can say, though, is that the delay in his taking to the fray took a bit of the wind out of Celtic’s sails when they were just getting going.
As it was, it took until the seventh minute of the second half for them to get the goal that permitted them to rest a little easier. And what a goal it was.
With both sides having passed up half chances at either end in the initial skirmishes, Turnbull picked up the ball 30 yards out following some good lead-up work from Bolingoli, reinstalled at left-back, and Jota.
It was clear what the former Motherwell man was going to attempt. It’s just that no one was able to stop it. From the moment the ball left Turnbull’s right boot, it always seemed destined for Kelly’s top left-hand corner. When it struck the net, the midfielder almost bowed his head as a mark of respect to his former club. The section of visiting Celtic supporters behind the goal, though, most definitely lost theirs.
‘Everyone knows what kind of club Motherwell are and how they helped me when I was younger, so I wanted to be respectful,’ said Turnbull.
‘I knew beforehand I wouldn’t celebrate because I spoke to my family about it.
‘It was hard to stop myself but I was delighted to put the ball in the top corner anyway. Hopefully, I can score more of them in future and will be celebrating them as I want to.
‘A few of the boys were asking me how I did it. When I got it, I just thought: “I have to strike this and put a bit of swazz on it.”
‘I will be getting a few messages from my pals later on no doubt, there will be a bit of banter.’
Just after the hour, a Turnbull corner came back off the upright after the slightest of touches from Starfelt and any remaining hope for the home side was effectively extinguished with Fordyce’s refusal to point to the spot when it appeared there was no other option.
For Motherwell, roll on VAR. For Celtic, roll on the prospect of being right back in the thick of a Premiership title race.
MOTHERWELL (4-3-3): Kelly; O’Donnell, Mugabi, Ojala, McGinley; Grimshaw (Amaluzor 77), Slattery, Goss; Roberts (Van Veen 62), Watt, Woolery.
Subs (not used): Fox, Carroll, O’Hara, Solholm Johansen, Donnelly. Booked: Mugabi.
CELTIC (4-3-3): Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Bolingoli; McGregor, Rogic (Bitton 73), Turnbull; Abada (Giakoumakis 73), Furuhashi (Johnston 82), Jota.
Subs (not used): Bain, Scales, Ajeti, Johnston, Welsh. Booked: Carter-Vickers.
Referee: Willie Collum.