2009-12-12: Motherwell 2-3 Celtic, SPL

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Trivia

• Celtic comeback. We went 2-1 down after leading one nil. Cracking game, but we keep conceding needless goals.
• Game played in freezing, misty conditions.

Review

Celtic recorded their fourth straight win in a five-goal thriller against Motherwell at Fir Park.
A Georgios Samaras strike gave Celtic the lead before Lukas Jutkiewicz back-heeled in a 26th-minute equaliser.
Mark Reynolds converted a Tom Hateley free-kick on the stroke of half-time then Aiden McGeady levelled shortly after the break with a curling shot.
Barry Robson missed a penalty before sub Marc-Antoine Fortune's shot claimed the points with 11 minutes remaining.
The win puts Celtic two points clear at the top following an action-packed afternoon in Lanarkshire.

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Motherwell 2-3 Celtic

By Martin Conaghan

Celtic recorded their fourth straight win in a five-goal thriller against Motherwell at Fir Park.

A Georgios Samaras strike gave Celtic the lead before Lukas Jutkiewicz back-heeled in a 26th-minute equaliser.

Mark Reynolds converted a Tom Hateley free-kick on the stroke of half-time then Aiden McGeady levelled shortly after the break with a curling shot.

Barry Robson missed a penalty before sub Marc-Antoine Fortune's shot claimed the points with 11 minutes remaining.

The win puts Celtic two points clear at the top following an action-packed afternoon in Lanarkshire.

Tony Mowbray kept with the side that beat Aberdeen last week, with Samaras partnering Scott McDonald in attack, while Gary Caldwell partnered Glenn Loovens at the back.

Motherwell boss Jim Gannon made three changes, with Steve Jennings, Steven Meechan and Robert McHugh all coming in – while Giles Coke, John Sutton and Ross Forbes started on the bench.

With the fog descending over Fir Park, Jutkiewicz cleared the air with an early effort from 20 yards out, but Loovens blocked.

Motherwell keeper John Ruddy deflected a Samaras shot off the bar after the Greece international struck from close range.

Celtic's opener arrived in the 14th minute from the boot of Samaras after the former Man City striker picked up a long ball from Landry N'Guemo and twisted around the Motherwell defence to fire in a superb shot from 12 yards out into the top corner of the net.

Moments later, McGeady forced Ruddy to parry a chipped shot and fired in with another low strike two minutes later.

With 25 minutes played, Jutkiewicz broke free inside the Celtic penalty area but lost out to a well-timed Loovens challenge.

The Englishman landed Motherwell's equaliser 60 seconds later after McHugh delivered a fine cross from the right for Jutkiewicz to back-heel past a hapless Artur Boruc.

Celtic remained composed as a Caldwell header inched past Ruddy's right-hand post just after the half-hour mark.

As half-time approached, Jamie Murphy gave the Celtic defence a scare with a blazing run into the penalty area, but Loovens and Caldwell cleared the danger.

Motherwell took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Hateley delivered a searching free-kick that was nodded down by Loovens for Reynolds to shoot past Boruc from six yards.

Celtic restored parity six minutes after the restart when Samaras sent a square ball to McGeady on the right-hand side of the Motherwell penalty area and the Republic of Ireland international curled in a superb shot past Ruddy.

Claims for a Celtic penalty were waved away by referee Charlie Richmond after Steven Jennings appeared to accidentally handle the ball.

Scott McDonald struck the Motherwell bar from a Danny Fox cross as the hour mark approached and a goalmouth scramble ended with a Samaras strike being deflected over.

Steven Saunders conceded a penalty in the 64th minute following a collision with Samaras, but Robson's spot-kick was parried by Ruddy to maintain the deadlock.

A McGeady volley inched wide with 20 minutes left as Celtic pushed for a lead and Jutkiewicz blasted a left-footed shot wide of Boruc's goal at the other end.

Samaras linked up with Robson in the 76th minute and looked certain to score but fired straight at Ruddy.

Substitute Fortune was on the pitch less than 60 seconds before he latched on to a Hinkel long ball and thundered in an unstoppable shot to put Celtic back in the driving seat.

With six minutes left, Ross Forbes delivered a low shot that drifted past Boruc's left-hand post then failed to test the Polish keeper with a long-range free-kick.

Fortune struck the Motherwell post with an angled shot in the final minute, but the points were already on the board for the Glasgow visitors.

Motherwell manager Jim Gannon: "I'm really proud to be involved with such a good game. It was a great advert for the SPL.

"You can see the quality of Celtic's play, and you can see why they've had four wins in a row now, but my players certainly gave a good account of themselves and showed what they are about.

"It was good to see our young players give a good account of themselves against such a quality team.

"We were confident we would score and create chances, which we did.

"But – great credit to Celtic – they've got the quality, they've got the intensity from their experienced players to be able to really put you under a lot of pressure and it told in the end."

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray: "It was a great football match with a lot of good play.

"From our perspective, we looked in total control of the football game in the first half, but we came in 2-1 down after shooting ourselves in the foot.

"But we got the job done, which is all-important at this stage – to keep picking up the points – and I think we warranted them.

"I think Marc Fortune has had a rough few months with his injury, but there's a lot of expectation on his shoulders.

"He can score goals at any level and I'm delighted for him."

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/8407180.stm

Published: 2009/12/12 14:39:19 GMT

© BBC 2011
Motherwell manager Jim Gannon:
"I'm really proud to be involved with such a good game. It was a great advert for the SPL.

"You can see the quality of Celtic's play, and you can see why they've had four wins in a row now, but my players certainly gave a good account of themselves and showed what they are about.
"It was good to see our young players give a good account of themselves against such a quality team.
"We were confident we would score and create chances, which we did.
"But – great credit to Celtic – they've got the quality, they've got the intensity from their experienced players to be able to really put you under a lot of pressure and it told in the end."
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray:
"It was a great football match with a lot of good play.

"From our perspective, we looked in total control of the football game in the first half, but we came in 2-1 down after shooting ourselves in the foot.
"But we got the job done, which is all-important at this stage – to keep picking up the points – and I think we warranted them.
"I think Marc Fortune has had a rough few months with his injury, but there's a lot of expectation on his shoulders.
"He can score goals at any level and I'm delighted for him."

Live text and data provided by The Press Association.

Marc-Antoine Fortune makes instant impact for Celtic at Motherwell

Guardian.co.uk
Marc-Antoine Fortuné could not have contrived a more impressive entry into the affections of Celtic's supporters than the manner in which he produced the goal that won an enthralling match at Fir Park.
Less than a minute after leaving the bench, the striker confirmed the visitors' comeback from an interval deficit that had hardly seemed possible. Georgios Samaras's opening goal had been overtaken by counters from Motherwell's Lukas Jutkiewicz and Mark Reynolds – both attributable to defensive blunders – before Aiden McGeady's equaliser set the scene for Fortuné's stunning decider.
Early though it was, that opener from Samaras was overdue and the very least Celtic merited from an opening period in which they threatened to repeat last year's performance here, when they established a 4-0 lead by the interval.
This virtually unchallenged superiority, during which the advantage was kept to a single goal through the excellent work of the home goalkeeper, John Ruddy, made the equaliser from Jutkiewicz – and the blunder from Artur Boruc that made it possible – the more shocking. That Motherwell should actually be ahead by half-time through Reynolds would have seemed about as likely as their winning the championship.
Ruddy had already deflected a low, powerful drive from Samaras into the air and against his crossbar before the striker gave Celtic the lead, both incidents underlining the menace carried by the visitors during that surging opening. He took a long ball from Danny Fox, turned quickly away from three opponents and into the right side of the home penalty area, Ruddy was left powerless by the ferocity and accuracy of the right-foot drive from 15 yards.
The goalkeeper saved high to his left less than a minute later from McGeady and again from the same player soon after. The odds against Motherwell regaining a foothold were extending by the minute when Robert McHugh swung over what appeared a harmless cross from the right. But Boruc, unfathomably, left his line when he had no chance of reaching the ball and, as Gary Caldwell challenged, Jutkiewicz glanced the ball with his right foot past both Celtic players and into the unprotected net from eight yards.
Even if Celtic did have a legitimate claim for a penalty when Samaras was tripped by Reynolds, it was their own sloppiness in defence that allowed the Motherwell defender the second goal. Tom Hateley's nicely floated free-kick glanced off the head of Andreas Hinkel and fell to Reynolds, who had come in behind the defensive wall and volleyed home from six yards out.
It was to the visitors' credit that they should produce a second half at least as impressive as their first. Another two poor decisions from referee Charlie Richmond denied them penalties after McGeady had equalised, but their own application, and no little virtuosity, saw them through.
McGeady's was a brilliant finish, taking a lay-off from Samaras on the right and cutting inside before hitting a terrific left-foot drive high to the right of Ruddy. When Celtic were finally awarded a penalty for Saunders's foul on Samaras, Robson gave the goalkeeper an easy save with a weak shot close to his left side.
But Fortuné's contribution was quite breathtaking, made less than a minute after he replaced the left-back Danny Fox, giving Celtic a three-man strike force. It was from a long ball from Hinkel that Fortune head-flicked on to Scott McDonald and moved on to take the return. Quickly taking control and a couple of steps forward, Fortune then hit the perfect rising drive, the ball hurtling into Ruddy's top left corner.