After a challenging defeat, Motherwell came up short to William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic on Saturday afternoon, with the visitors coming away with a 3-1 win.
Daizen Maeda got his side off to the perfect start, scoring after just 49 seconds. However, Motherwell showed ample character to stabilise themselves and levelled through Luke Armstrong after 23 minutes.
Celtic wouldn’t be level for long with Adam Idah scoring just six minutes later, before Jota put the icing on the cake in stoppage time.
With Stephen Frail at the helm, Motherwell made two changes to the side that conceded two late goals in Perth eight days prior, with both Dom Thompson and Luke Armstrong handed their first starts. Having signed the day before, Will Dickson and Luke Plange were both named on the bench.
And with a full away end behind them, Celtic got off to the perfect start. Anthony Ralston picked out Maeda at the back post with a perfect delivery, and the Japanese international headed past Ellery Balcombe to open the scoring inside a minute.
It was the worst possible start for the Steelmen, but they dug their heels in, and after some flashes of chances, they found the leveller. Thompson cut inside onto his right foot and crossed into the area; Auston Trusty could only set the ball up perfectly for Armstrong, who smashed it into the ground and into the bottom corner for the equaliser. 23 minutes gone, 1-1.
Celtic weren’t level for long, and having scored the opener, Maeda turned provider for Idah to level just before the half-hour mark. 1-2 to Celtic.
Tawanda Maswanhise got a sight of goal almost immediately from the restart after Armstrong flicked a long ball into the Zimbabwean’s path, but the winger dragged his effort wide of the post.
Maeda wasn’t able to convert a handful of chances before the half-time break, despite some good setup work from Luke McCowan.
The second-half almost got off to the worst possible start for Motherwell, with Idah wheeling away in celebration thinking his side had a two-goal advantage on 49 minutes after the ball eventually ended up in the back of the net via Tom Sparrow. After a VAR check, however, the number nine was offside, and the goal was ruled out.
Celtic continued to put pressure on the Motherwell goal, and on the hour mark, Nicolas Kuhn got in behind the Motherwell defence, and having seen his first effort saved by Balcombe, produced an acrobatic effort to finish on the rebound. The linesman’s flag was raised immediately, with the German offside.
Idah was denied a second by the post, with Motherwell stopper Balcombe producing a couple of decent saves to keep the visitors at bay.
With Stephen Frail introducing Plange and Dickson to the proceedings, which meant three strikers were playing, Celtic picked off the hosts and sealed the points in stoppage time. Arnie Engels released Maeda, who played the ball across the goal for Jota, who could tap in from close range.
A tough result for the Steelmen, but a free weekend will give time for rest and recovery before going again against Ross County at Fir Park on the 15 February.
Motherwell: Balcombe, Kaleta (Paton 38′), O’Donnell, Gordon, Blaney, Thompson (Zdravkovski 76′), Sparrow, Halliday (Dickson 76′), Nicholson (Wilson 63′), Armstrong, Maswanhise (Plange 63′)
Subs: Balmer, Zdravkovski, Paton, Wilson, Connelly, Watt, Andrews, Plange, Dickson
