Motherwell 1 Celtic 1
Celtic got what they deserved out of this one. Failure to kill a team off when ahead usually gets punished. The late goal was unexpected and possibly a little lucky, but then again, you should expect the unexpected.
It was a game that was unsatisfactory for many reasons. The refereeing was poor, and the game seemed to contain too many fouls that were unnecessary. The game never really flowed, and in this respect Celtic certainly missed James Forrest. It might have been an idea to have brought him on in the second half. As it was, Scott Sinclair and Odsonne Edouard when they came on were depressingly ineffective when all that was needed to kill the game was one goal.
As it was, Celtic had a very good goal ruled off by Mr Clancy, and then Leigh Griffiths made a pig’s ear of the penalty. I don’t think Leigh’s head was in the right place tonight, and surely it is better to keep the ball low at a penalty kick. It takes a split second longer for a goal keeper to get down than sideways or upwards. Low down and in the corner is the best place for a penalty.
Johnny Hayes had as good a game as I’ve seeing him play for Celtic – but that is not saying much, and he still lacks the cutting edge that he used to show for Aberdeen.
Good performances from our two central defenders and from Tierney, Brown and Christie, but generally it was a poorish Celtic performance with question marks now over quite a few of our fringe players.
And why was Ntcham taken off? He wasn’t all that bad. Brendan affirmed that he was not injured, but that it was for tactical reasons. So why?
The TV coverage was tiresome with the predictable crossing of swords of Craigan and Sutton, although I was impressed by the quiet dignity of Brendan Rodgers in his post match interview. It must have been a difficult one for him to do. He has some work to do now, for there are loads of important games coming our way.
There were two good things tonight.
One was the excellent goal scored by Ryan Christie, and the other, of course, was the news from Ibrox! Tonight’s results means that we now face the League leaders at Celtic Park on Saturday.
We need to be at our best for that one!
David Potter
Also on The Celtic Star…
Rodgers ‘disappointed’, Gerrard ‘rages’ at his flops, Clarke got top…See HERE.
An Honest Mistake, a penalty miss, Celtic have no-one to blame but themselves…See HERE.
