2016-04-09: Motherwell 1-2 Celtic, SP

Neil 'EBT' McCann's version of events was, as ever, viewed through blue-pound tinted glasses.

I though Griffith's was woeful, he seems to have adopted a Commons-esque first touch.

Kazin-Richards:doh: Had he placed his shot, quite literally, any where else it would have been a goal.

Scott Brown, what can one say? Beyond disappointing at times. Good to see Bitton have a strike, however, he's not at the races at present.

Toss of a coin as to whether he or Johansen stops playing most when 'crying' for a foul. Johansen is a huffy 'wee git' – hard to like him!

Kieran Tierney :praise:

Good to see Lustig improving … still looks afraid to hold on to the ball for more that a second, though.

'Bobo' Boyata … Jesus wept!

Ronnie Deila I just do not understand at all.

Apart from that, brilliant 3 points!

(vlad of KDS)
Result was all important and it was encouraging in that we created a good number of chances.
On another day we might have scored another four or five.

Still many concerns for me, especially the way poor control of the football leads to frequent loss of possession.
Kazim carries all the threat of Charles Hawtrey in a boxing ring and for me has shown little or nothing to justify inclusion in the side.

Highlights: Motherwell 1-2 Celtic
Two Leigh Griffiths goals in a madcap win over Motherwell moved defending champions Celtic eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic had eight attempts on goal in the first half – including a missed Griffiths penalty – before the striker made amends just before the break.
Motherwell had their goalkeeper Connor Ripley to thank for keeping them in it before Scott McDonald equalised.

But Griffiths struck again, the ball squirming through Ripley's legs.
It was a bitter end to what had been a terrific performance by the Englishman.
Celtic lorded it early on. The irony was that of all their pot-shots at goal the one shot that did not trouble Ripley was that missed Griffiths penalty.
Patrick Roberts, excellent in the first half, had the first of those chances, Nir Bitton the second and Griffiths the third. All of them were beaten away by Ripley.
Midway through the half, Roberts' quick feet bamboozled Morgaro Gomis and the penalty was won – and then missed. Griffiths pulled his effort wide of Ripley's left-hand post. Bizarrely for a man who has scored buckets of goals this season, it was Griffiths' fourth miss from the penalty spot since August.

Leigh Griffiths misses a penalty for Celtic against Motherwell
Griffiths fired his spot-kick attempt past the post
Ripley continued dealing with the Celtic barrage. Lovely build-up play put Colin Kazim-Richards through on goal but Ripley denied him, this time with his feet.
Motherwell, in that opening half, had none of the edge that had helped them win five on the spin. Their use of the ball was awful, their composure suffering some kind of peculiar bypass.
They continued to invite Celtic on to them. Kieran Tierney and Roberts, again, forced saves from Ripley. True, many of these blocks from the keeper were from attempts delivered straight down his throat, but he had still made seven saves by the time the game was 40 minutes old.
A minute before the break, he was beaten at last, Tierney delivering from the left and Griffiths sweeping it home from close range. One goal was the least that their pressure deserved, but even that slender margin was to be wiped out soon enough.
Motherwell turned up at the party in the second half. At last, they had a bit of attitude and accuracy going forward.
McDonald had the ball in the Celtic net 10 minutes into the half but it was disallowed, controversially, for offside. Celtic now became the nervy team. Dedryck Boyata was an unsettling presence at the heart of their defence as Motherwell's confidence grew.
The equaliser came on the hour when Chris Cadden got the better of Tierney on the left and pulled it back for Celtic's old boy, McDonald, to thump home, aided by a slight deflection off Boyata's knee. It was an emphatic finish from the Australian – one that utterly stunned the visitors.

Scott McDonald celebrates after scoring for Motherwell against Celtic
McDonald (far right) scored against his former club
Celtic dug it out, though. With 15 minutes left – and just after an angry exchange that could have seen Kazim-Richards sent off – Griffiths struck again, his snapshot going through Ripley's legs.
A frustrated figure for much of the afternoon, the irrepressible Celtic striker found a way of getting the job done – again.

Match ends, Motherwell 1, Celtic 2.

Full Time

90'+5'

Second Half ends, Motherwell 1, Celtic 2.

90'+4'

Attempt missed. Louis Moult (Motherwell) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

90'+3'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from long range on the right is close, but misses to the right.

90'+3'

Foul by Jack Leitch (Motherwell).

90'+3'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution

90'+1'

Substitution, Celtic. Stuart Armstrong replaces Patrick Roberts.

90'+1'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

90'+1'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Substitution

90'

Substitution, Motherwell. Dom Thomas replaces Morgaro Gomis.

88'

Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

87'

Attempt saved. Lionel Ainsworth (Motherwell) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

84'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.

Booking

83'

Stephen McManus (Motherwell) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

83'

Foul by Stephen McManus (Motherwell).

83'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

82'

Attempt missed. Louis Moult (Motherwell) header from the left side of the box misses to the left.

81'

Lionel Ainsworth (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

81'

Foul by Callum McGregor (Celtic).

80'

Attempt blocked. Lionel Ainsworth (Motherwell) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

79'

Attempt missed. Louis Moult (Motherwell) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.

78'

Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by Kieran Tierney.

Substitution

76'

Substitution, Motherwell. Lionel Ainsworth replaces Chris Cadden because of an injury.

Substitution

76'

Substitution, Celtic. Callum McGregor replaces Colin Kazim-Richards.

Substitution

76'

Substitution, Motherwell. Jack Leitch replaces Keith Lasley.

Booking

75'

Colin Kazim-Richards (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Goal!

75'

Goal! Motherwell 1, Celtic 2. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kieran Tierney.

71'

Louis Moult (Motherwell) wins a free kick on the right wing.

71'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).

Substitution

70'

Substitution, Celtic. Tomas Rogic replaces Stefan Johansen.

70'

Attempt missed. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

67'

Keith Lasley (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

67'

Foul by Colin Kazim-Richards (Celtic).

65'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

65'

Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

64'

Scott McDonald (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

64'

Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).

63'

Scott McDonald (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

63'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).

Goal!

60'

Goal! Motherwell 1, Celtic 1. Scott McDonald (Motherwell) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Chris Cadden.

60'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).

60'

Marvin Johnson (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

58'

Attempt saved. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

57'

Kieran Kennedy (Motherwell) wins a free kick on the left wing.

57'

Foul by Colin Kazim-Richards (Celtic).

56'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Louis Moult.

56'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Connor Ripley.

55'

Attempt saved. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

52'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Kieran Kennedy.

51'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

51'

Foul by Keith Lasley (Motherwell).

50'

Foul by Leigh Griffiths (Celtic).

50'

Josh Law (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

48'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Louis Moult.

47'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Stephen McManus.

Second Half

Half Time

45'+2'

First Half ends, Motherwell 0, Celtic 1.

45'+1'

Colin Kazim-Richards (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.

45'+1'

Foul by Josh Law (Motherwell).

Booking

45'

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) is shown the yellow card.

Goal!

44'

Goal! Motherwell 0, Celtic 1. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kieran Tierney.

44'

Foul by Louis Moult (Motherwell).

44'

Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

42'

Attempt missed. Mikael Lustig (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is just a bit too high.

42'

Attempt saved. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.

41'

Attempt saved. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

41'

Attempt blocked. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

38'

Scott McDonald (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

38'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).

38'

Attempt saved. Colin Kazim-Richards (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

36'

Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

36'

Foul by Louis Moult (Motherwell).

34'

Foul by Chris Cadden (Motherwell).

34'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

32'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

32'

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

32'

Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by Scott Brown.

32'

Attempt blocked. Marvin Johnson (Motherwell) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

30'

Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

30'

Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by Charlie Mulgrew.

27'

Penalty missed! Bad penalty by Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot is close, but misses to the right. Leigh Griffiths should be disappointed.

26'

Penalty conceded by Morgaro Gomis (Motherwell) after a foul in the penalty area.

26'

Penalty Celtic. Patrick Roberts draws a foul in the penalty area.

25'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

25'

Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

24'

Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

24'

Keith Lasley (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

24'

Foul by Patrick Roberts (Celtic).

22'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).

22'

Louis Moult (Motherwell) wins a free kick on the left wing.

22'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

22'

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

20'

Scott McDonald (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

20'

Foul by Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic).

19'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left.

19'

Attempt saved. Scott Brown (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

19'

Foul by Louis Moult (Motherwell).

19'

Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.

17'

Attempt missed. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

16'

Attempt saved. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

15'

Attempt missed. Scott Brown (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.

13'

Attempt saved. Marvin Johnson (Motherwell) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.

10'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Josh Law.

9'

Attempt saved. Stefan Johansen (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

8'

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

8'

Foul by Scott McDonald (Motherwell).

6'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.

3'

Patrick Roberts (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.

3'

Foul by Morgaro Gomis (Motherwell).

3'

Attempt saved. Chris Cadden (Motherwell) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

2'

Patrick Roberts (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

2'

Foul by Louis Moult (Motherwell).

Kick Off