| Match Pictures | Matches: 2008 – 2009 | 2008-2009 Pictures |
Trivia
- Naka & McGeady on the bench, JVoH suspended.
- Skippy scored a peach of a goal.
- Aalborg in first CL game on Wednesday coming.
Review
A bizarre game, started off incredibly with two quick fire goals in the first ten minutes saw Celtic take control and take a 4-0 lead into half-time. An amazing scoreline taking in that Naka & McGeady were on the bench following the last Celtic v Rangers game. Anyhow, second half was poor to put it mildly and Motherwell switched on and gave a far better account of themselves scoring two fine goals, and TBH deserved to take points from this game.
Suprisingly nerve racking before the Aaloborg game to come.
Teams
Motherwell:
Graeme Smith, Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell, Hughes, Lasley, McGarry (O'Brien 58), Clarkson (Murphy 86), Porter, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Nielsen, Malcolm, Darren Smith, Fitzpatrick,Connolly.
Booked: Lasley, Craigan, Reynolds.
Goals: Sutton 55, Clarkson 57.
Celtic:
Boruc,
Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor,
Robson, Crosas (Nakamura 80), Scott Brown, Maloney
Samaras, McDonald (Sheridan 86).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, McGeady, Loovens, Donati, Caddis.
Booked: McDonald, Robson, Samaras.
Goals: Maloney 5, Samaras 9, McDonald 24, Samaras 42.
Ref: C Thomson.
Attendance: 8,407
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
KStreet
Articles
Motherwell 2-4 Celtic
By David McDaid
BBC
A flawless first-half performance gave Celtic victory over Motherwell, who rallied in the second period.
Shaun Maloney put the visitors ahead with a tap-in from close range after four minutes.
A volley from Scott McDonald, and a Georgios Samaras brace gave Celtic a four-goal half-time lead.
And despite John Sutton and David Clarkson pulling goals back after the break, it is Celtic who go into their European campaign on a high.
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan raised some eyebrows by leaving out Andreas Hinkel, Paul Hartley, Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady.
But the new-look midfield, anchored by Marc Crosas in his first start, displayed an energy and inventiveness that had been missing from previous matches this season.
Scott Brown had more licence to move forward and, with only five minutes on the clock, he whipped the ball across goal between defence and goalkeeper.
Maloney was at the back post to tap the ball into an open net for his first goal since returning to Celtic in August.
Samaras doubled Celtic's lead just four minutes later when the Greek striker slipped the ball past Graeme Smith from ten yards after collecting McDonald's lay-off.
After giving the away team a two-goal start, Motherwell steadied the ship.
However, they still struggled to create clear-cut chances, with John Sutton snatching at two shots, skewing one high and the other well wide.
And just as Motherwell were starting to play themselves into the game, they conceded a sloppy third.
Mark Wilson delivered a throw-in to McDonald, who was allowed to spin round Mark Reynolds too easily, and the Australian hit his first-time shot high into the net from inside the box.
David Clarkson struck an acrobatic overhead kick past Artur Boruc on the half-hour mark, but the Motherwell forward had strayed offside.
The Steelmen were fortunate not to go further behind when Maloney hit the bar from a free-kick.
But the respite was brief as Lee Naylor, McDonald and Samaras combined superbly for the Greek to slot the ball past Smith for number four, and the home side left the pitch at half-time to a cacophony of boos.
Samaras, excellent throughout, should have teed up McDonald for the fifth goal, but instead shot weakly with a hat-trick beckoning.
But, Motherwell manager Mark McGhee must have had stern words for his charges during the break, as it was the Steelmen who pulled one back after 55 minutes when John Sutton lashed a low volley past Boruc after Keith Lasley had nodded the ball down in the box.
And Clarkson brought Motherwell right back into the match two minutes later when he slid in to prod the ball under the Celtic goalkeeper.
The quick double had the visitors on the ropes as Motherwell grew in confidence and, with ten minutes remaining, Clarkson again came close with a header that Boruc tipped away.
But the Glasgow side weathered the storm to emerge victors in a fantastic contest as both teams now turn their attentions to European competition in mid-week.
"I don't read too much into the second-half comeback, the first half was the barometer I'm looking at, and it shows how far we still have to go.
"Some of our play wasn't bad even in the first half, but individually our defending was poor – in particular at the Scott McDonald goal."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"I thought the football at times was exhilarating against a good Motherwell side."
"We've not done that to many teams for a long time, and I thought the players' focus was excellent.
"Samaras' performance was near enough 10 out of 10. He was great in the air, on the ball, scored goals, and in the fourth goal we saw a goal you dream of as a football manager."
Motherwell: Graeme Smith, Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell, Hughes, Lasley, McGarry (O'Brien 58), Clarkson (Murphy 86), Porter, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Nielsen, Malcolm, Darren Smith, Fitzpatrick,Connolly.
Booked: Lasley, Craigan, Reynolds.
Goals: Sutton 55, Clarkson 57.
Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Robson, Crosas (Nakamura 80), Scott Brown, Maloney, Samaras, McDonald (Sheridan 86).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, McGeady, Loovens, Donati, Caddis.
Booked: McDonald, Robson, Samaras.
Goals: Maloney 5, Samaras 9, McDonald 24, Samaras 42.
Ref: C Thomson.
Motherwell 2-4 Celtic
Scotland on Sunday
Published on Saturday 13 September 2008 20:01
THEY have plenty in their locker was Gordon Strachan's reasoning for expecting Motherwell to provide his team with a fraught afternoon at Fir Park.
Instead, by delving into his, the Celtic manager gave free rein to riches that lashed a limp Lanarkshire side with a four-goal burst in a truly breathtaking first-half display. Only for the home team to be transformed after the interval and, incredibly, have Celtic wobbling when two goals inside three minutes reduced the deficit to 4-2 with fully 34 minutes remaining.
But it remained a day to savour for Celtic, the perfect fillip following their Old Firm defeat and a confidence-booster ahead of them hosting Aalborg in their Champions League opener on Wednesday. The following evening, Motherwell face Nancy in France. Their hope will be that they are not asked to handle the fluidity and invention that made Celtic unstoppable for 40 minutes.
Yet, in the heat of a 15-minute mini-revival from Mark McGhee's men, at a stretch it was possible to wonder whether the teams hadn't just changed ends at the interval but also changed kits. Celtic, otherwise, left Motherwell looking so un-Motherwell. You expect the Fir Park team to be in the faces of teams in their own backyard. For the opening period yesterday, they were left looking at the backs of Celtic players' heads as they were sliced apart by passing moves of pace and precision orchestrated by Shaun Maloney, Georgios Samaras and, in his first start, Marc Crosas.
The home team couldn't handle them because they sat off and admired, an approach they knocked on the head following the break in favour of clattering the legs of a Celtic team who stopped playing in so abrupt a fashion it was as if the muse had simply left them.
In truth, the turnaround was a combination of Motherwell no longer leaving their visitors room to shuttle the ball around with alacrity and Celtic, in turn, being unable to sustain a level that had bordered on the majestic, never more so than five minutes from half-time when they made it 4-0 with a sleek, seven-man move. It culminated in Lee Naylor sprinting over the halfway line and picking out Scott McDonald, the Australian, who with one touch back-heeled into the path of Samaras. The striker completed a plunder to have purists drooling by striding on and burying an effort past Graeme Smith with utter conviction.
Strachan is often accused of being inflexible in team selection, leading to an inflexibility in his team's style of play. Yesterday, no such charge could be levelled. It would have been inconceivable a month ago to believe that Celtic could be driven to creative heights rarely seen in Strachan's three-year tenure without Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura at the heart of such form but both men started on the bench. Instead, Scott Brown and Maloney were handed the wide roles and Crosas took over in central midfeld from the injured Paul Hartley. Mark Wilson switched to his favoured right-back berth as Lee Naylor reappeared on the opposite flank, and that meant no place in the squad for Andreas Hinkel.
The effects were instant, with Maloney turning the ball in from point-blank range at the back post after the Motherwell defence failed to clear a tame ball in from the right by Brown five minutes in. Three minutes later Samaras drove through the middle of the home backline, selling Mark Reynolds with a shimmy before lashing a low effort beyond the Motherwell keeper. There then followed a period of total football from Celtic that was glorious to watch, before McDonald made it 3-0 in 24 minutes when he spun Reynolds and produced a sweet lob that beat Smith by way of his finger tips. Maloney shimmered the crossbar with a free-kick before the fourth as Celtic threatened to run riot.
That they ended the confrontation with only a two-goal winning margin spoke of commendable face-saving in the second half from Motherwell. Just for a brief spell it threatened to be even more, but it began in the 55th minute when David Clarkson lobbed a ball into the box that Keith Lasley outjumped Gary Caldwell to and flicked into the path of John Sutton, who first-timed a thunderous drive in from 14 yards. Two minutes later Stephen McGarry played Clarkson in to drill the ball beyond Artur Boruc and a contest was suddenly only a Motherwell goal away. It didn't arrive, and a gripping afternoon's entertainment could offer no more. By then, the Scottish champions had served up more flowing football than in the rest of 2008 put together.
Magnificent to see team go with the flow says happy Strachan
CELTIC'S football was verging on the poetic for the full opening period of their 4-2 win over Motherwell yesterday but it only required the prosaic from Gordon Strachan to do it full justice. "That was as good as we've played in a long time," the Celtic manager acknowledged. "We had that flow we've tried to get and there was no stuttering. Everyone knew when the ball was going to be played and everyone was moving at the right time. The football was absolutely magnificent."
Strachan admitted he took "a wee gamble" in extensively reshaping his side, with four personnel changes and seven positional changes from the team that lost 4-2 to Rangers in their last outing. He says he did so because, with the upcoming heavy schedule that includes Wednesday night's Champions League hosting of Aalborg, he didn't want to face the possibility of throwing fringe players in "when they'd spent the last six games on the bench".
Marc Crosas was given a first start, and Scott McDonald and Lee Naylor returned to the side following injury, with Shaun Maloney and Scott Brown deployed in the wide roles normally the preserve of Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady, both on the bench at Fir Park. Now Strachan must decide whether to keep the changes.
Strachan still found time for one whinge yesterday, praising his side's "discipline" for not complaining over the lead-up to Motherwell's first goal. It seems he was unhappy with Keith Lasley's challenge on Gary Caldwell that allowed the midfielder to knock the ball down for John Sutton to score. "If it had been my old days at Aberdeen we would have chased the referee up to the halfway line," he said. "It just shows my players have respect for the referee (Craig Thomson]."
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee said: "What went wrong for us was that Celtic were so good. They were fast, powerful, inventive and outclassed us in every department. The way they played in that first half today, they would have done to most SPL teams what they did to us. In the second half we at least didn't go into our shells, started to play for one another and salvaged a bit of pride."
He would not accept that his team's 4-3-3 set-up left them too open and maintained he will not consider reconfiguring his formation for the UEFA Cup tie against Nancy on Thursday.
MAN OF THE MATCH
It can be no mere coincidence that Celtic suddenly look as if they have craft to spare going forward since Shaun Maloney's return. His interchanges with Georgios Samaras and Marc Crosas were central to the team finding a rhythm to their passing and movement.
TALKING POINT
Celtic have now claimed four-goal hauls in five games at Fir Park since 2002.
QUICK FACT
Gordon Strachan now has tough decisions to make regarding his team for the Champions League. With five goals in three games Georgios Samaras is sure to start up front, but Strachan must decide whether to continue with Marc Crosas, and how he fits in Shaun Maloney, Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady.
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee:
"I think we were outclassed totally in the first half by a very good Celtic team. "I don't read too much into the second-half comeback, the first half was the barometer I'm looking at, and it shows how far we still have to go. "Some of our play wasn't bad even in the first half, but individually our defending was poor – in particular at the Scott McDonald goal."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"I thought the football at times was exhilarating against a good Motherwell side." "We've not done that to many teams for a long time, and I thought the players' focus was excellent. "Samaras' performance was near enough 10 out of 10. He was great in the air, on the ball, scored goals, and in the fourth goal we saw a goal you dream of as a football manager."
Stats
| Motherwell
Sutton 55 |
2-4 (0-4) |
Celtic
Maloney 5 |
R |
| Bookings: Lasley 61  Craigan 71 Reynolds 74 |
Bookings: McDonald 52 Robson 73 Samaras 75 |
Possession
| 41% | 59% |
Shots on target
| 7 | 13 |
Shots off target
| 6 | 7 |
Corners
| 4 | 4 |
Fouls
| 12 | 11 |
Samaras' twin strikes banish hangover of Old Firm loss
15 September 2008 Provided by: The Independent Factiva News Search Sport |
*SCOTLAND MOTHERWELL 2 CELTIC 4 THE
CELTIC striker Georgios Samaras insists the Scottish Premier League champions have put their defeat by Rangers firmly behind them with their emphatic win over Motherwell on Saturday. Due to the international break, Gordon Strachan's players had two weeks to stew over their 4-2 capitulation at the hands of their bitter rivals. However, any fears of a lingering Old Firm hangover from the green side of Glasgow were blown away at Fir Park as Celtic stormed to a four-goal half-time lead with the Greece international Samaras helping himself to a double to take his tally to five in three games. Shaun Maloney and Scott McDonald grabbed the visitors' other goals and, perhaps understandably, Celtic eased off after the break, allowing goals from John Sutton and David Clarkson to give a sheen of respectability to the scoreline. Rangers remain top of the table following their 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox but Samaras claimed the first-half demolition of Motherwell – which he described as the best Celtic have played in his time at Parkhead – wiped away the memory of the Old Firm defeat. And the Greek hopes to take that form into Wednesday's home Champions League clash against Danish side Aalborg. "We have put the game against Rangers behind us," the ex-Manchester City striker said. "We lost but we are looking forward. Of course we are disappointed we lost the derby but we didn't lose the title and we will see at the end of the season who is the best team. We had a good tempo in the first half but after that we were a bit tired. We need a rest because we need to be ready for Wednesday. It's a massive game and we need the three points." Strachan made four changes to his side, dropping Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura to the bench. Far from being weakened, Celtic turned in their best display this season leaving Strachan with a selection dilemma. Motherwell had been looking for a more positive result ahead of their trip to France for the first leg of their Uefa Cup first-round tie against Nancy next week.
Goals: Maloney (5) 0-1; Samaras (9) 0-2; McDonald (24) 0-3; Samaras (42) 0-4; Sutton (55) 1-4; Clarkson (57) 2-4. Motherwell: G Smith; Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell; Hughes, Lasley, McGarry (O'Brien, 58), Clarkson (Murphy, 86); Porter, Sutton. Substitutes not used: Nielsen, Malcolm, D Smith, Fitzpatrick, Connolly. Celtic: Boruc; Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor; Robson, Crosas (Nakamura 80), S Brown, Maloney; Samaras, McDonald (Sheridan 86). Substitutes not used: M Brown, McGeady, Loovens, Donati, Caddis. Referee: C Thomson (Scotland). Booked: Motherwell Lesley, Craigan, Reynolds; Celtic McDonald, Robson, Samaras. Man of the match: Samaras. Attendance: 8,407. (c) 2008 Independent & Media PLC The Independent