Celtic vs Motherwell. Scottish Premiership.
Celtic Park.
James Forrest, Albian Ajeti and Christopher Jullien give Celtic convincing win
Sunday 30 August 2020 20:32, UK
Celtic demonstrated their domestic prowess once again by eventually overcoming Motherwell 3-0 at Celtic Park.
The Hoops were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Ferencvaros on Wednesday night and were again unconvincing before winger James Forrest scored five minutes before the break.
The Steelmen, who had failed to win any of their first five league matches, had been tenacious and remained so in the second half until Albian Ajeti fired in a second in the 74th minute, just a few minutes after coming on as substitute, with defender Christopher Jullien netting a third in stoppage time.
In the final analysis Celtic, aiming for their 10th successive title, had too much for their Premiership opponents as they moved to within six points of Rangers with two games in hand.
Boss Neil Lennon was critical of some players after the defeat to Ferencvaros but he named an unchanged side which again had no recognised striker, Ryan Christie moving from midfield to lead the line once more.
Strikers Patryk Klimala and Ajeti were again on the bench along with midfielder David Turnbull, who made the switch from Motherwell to Celtic in midweek for a reported fee of around £3.25m.
Former Celtic striker Tony Watt replaced Callum Lang, who dropped to the Well bench.
Midfielders Mohamed Elyounoussi and Olivier Ntcham both had early efforts but it was a tentative start by the home side and Motherwell slowly grew in confidence.
In the ninth minute, wing-back Liam Grimshaw's shot on the turn from inside the Celtic penalty area was turned behind by Hoops 'keeper Vasilis Barkas for a corner which came to nothing.
In defence, the Steelmen looked disciplined and organised and it looked like they would get to the interval with their goal intact but then Forrest struck.
Celtic swept up the park and, when the Scotland winger took a Callum McGregor pass at the edge of the box, defender Ricki Lamie stood off and allowed him to bury a shot from 16 yards behind 'keeper Trevor Carson for his first goal of the season.
Seconds before the break, Barkas blocked an angled drive from Watt following a cross from Stephen O'Donnell but again the corner came to nothing.
Polish forward Klimala replaced Elyounoussi for the start of the second period to give the Parkhead side a more natural focal point with Christie moving wide.
Still, Motherwell proved dogged if rarely threatening in attack.
Just before the hour mark, with Celtic bossing possession, Klimala could not get properly on the end of an enticing Greg Taylor cut-back.
Taylor was then replaced by right-sided Jeremie Frimpong as Lennon changed to 3-5-2 formation, Christie moving back into the centre with Klimala and Forrest switching to the left.
Ajeti replaced Ntcham to partner Klimala with Christie taking over from the Frenchman and, at last, Celtic had two natural strikers up top and it was the unmarked former West Ham striker who grabbed Celtic's second when he took a pass from Kristoffer Ajer and hammered a shot from 12 yards past the helpless Carson.
Klimala then had a one-on-one with Carson with the 'keeper saving with his feet before Forrest clipped the top of the bar with a drive and in added time Jullien accepted a pass from Frimpong and rolled his shot past Carson.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon: "I thought that, in isolation, we dominated Ferencvaros and should have won - we didn't. And then it's all down to the fact we didn't play a centre-forward, but none of them are fit enough to start and you can see that today.
"Patryk did 45, he did well, but he was really blowing towards the end and Albian needs conditioning work but you can see how good he is.
"The likes of Edouard and Griffiths aren't here either, they are injured. Tom Rogic is injured, Mikey Johnston is injured. It was the best team we felt could have picked and today to start the game, we felt it was the right way to go.
"Listen, I make decisions and you live and die off them for what you think is for the benefit of the club. It's not some sort of ego trip. I have always put the players first and the club first.
"I expected criticism after the game and the volume of criticism is sometimes out of sync and balance. But you learn to live with that and we had a good response today from the players.
"No one is more sore about going out of the Champions League than myself. It's on my CV now, that result, but I have to park that and move forward."
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: "I am not dismissing it as a start I'm happy with. I have been happier with performances on the whole than people might think.
"But I am judged on getting results and winning matches and at this moment in time we are not doing that.
"I don't think we will get judged on today's game but after the international break we have games I think we can win and start getting a little run together."
The Scottish Premiership is back in action in two weeks' time as the league halts for the international break. Celtic will travel to Ross County on Saturday September 12 (kick-off 3pm), while Motherwell will host St Johnstone on the same day (kick-off 3pm).
