| 3 | Rangers | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 23 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 |
| 5 | Motherwell | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 | St Mirren | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | -4 | 18 |
| 7 | Dundee | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 15 |
Our fixture against Kilmarnock will now take place on Friday 23 December at Fir Park.
Kick off is 7:45pm.
The match was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday 24 December.
Both Motherwell and Kilmarnock made the request to the fixture change months ago.
SPFL, Sky Sports and Police Scotland all agreed for the change to go ahead this week.
Dean Cornelius says Motherwell are looking forward to the World Cup break as it is a chance for the team to get some much needed rest and allows them time to reset.
With the break in matches lasting five week, the midfielder believes it’s an opportunity for the team to work hard and get ahead of other teams in the league, and a win on Saturday would set them up nicely for it.
With a thin squad stretched the maximum, the matches didn’t get any easier for Motherwell with champions Celtic in town for a midweek clash in Lanarkshire.
With Celtic as strong favourites for the match, it would be the hosts who had the first big opportunity in the match. Stephen O’Donnell’s through ball was inch perfect for Kevin van Veen, who rounded the Joe Hart but couldn’t apply the finishing touch.
He was made to rue that missed chance on 15 minutes, when Kyogo tapped in from close range from Matt O’Riley’s ball across goal.
Bevis Mugabi, Kevin van Veen and Stuart McKinstry all went off injured to add to Steven Hammell’s injury list.
Louis Moult would go close from a header in what was Motherwell’s best chance of the second half.
Celtic would get their second of the match when former Motherwell man David Turnbull played a perfect ball over the top for Daizen Maeda who finished past Liam Kelly. The goal would be controversial after Matt Penney’s throw in was blocked in the build up.
Ross Tierney grabbed a consolation goal moments after Celtic’s second in the closing stages of the game.
The last match before the league breaks off for the World Cup is against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Kick off is 3pm, Saturday 12 November.
Tickets are available to buy directly from St Johnstone by clicking here. (Motherwell fans can purchase online on the day of the match until half-time)
Ticket prices:
| (Away support) | |
| Adults | £24 |
| Concessions | £14 |
| Family Adult | £17 |
| Juvenile (must be accompanied by an adult) | Free |
Important Information
If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.
Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.
St Johnstone have hit a good run of form, unbeaten in their last four, win wins over Hibernian, Rangers and Kilmarnock.
The home side have worked their way into the top six, with Motherwell sitting four points behind in 9th.
McDiarmid park has not been a happy hunting ground of late for the Steelmen, with their last win coming in September of 2019. Steven Hammell’s injury-hit side will be looking to end that wait for a win and go into the World Cup break on a positive note.
Match Officials
“It’s another narrow defeat, something we’ve seen too often this season.
“We need one last push on Saturday.”
A brave Motherwell performance had little luck as the team failed to end Celtic’s run of 13 consecutive victories over the Steelmen.
For the third meeting between the two in six weeks, Ange Postecoglou’s side were made to work hard for their win as two goals from Japanese pair, Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda narrowly earned them the points.
However, Ross Tierney’s goal ten minutes from time, ensured that the Fir Park men’s hopes of grabbing an equaliser and a point for their competitive and disciplined performance remained alive until the final whistle.
Despite the fact that the defeat also extended ‘Well’s poor home form to six games without a win the performance gave the players and fans an indication that that statistic will be improved upon after the World Cup break.
Injury and tactics forced Steven Hammell into three changes from the side which was unlucky to leave Tynecastle on Sunday empty handed.
Stephen O’Donnell made his first start since August, replacing the injured Paul McGinn and tasked with containing Celtic’s Portuguese winger Jota. Bevis Mugabi was recalled for his first league start coming into the centre of defence f in preference to Sondre Solholm. Dean Cornelius was added to the midfield providing Callum Slattery with a more advanced role behind Kevin Van Veen .
The mission facing a reshaped ‘Well was feared impossible, as they incredibly searched for a first win over Celtic at Fir Park since April 2013.
The league leaders showed their intentions from the kick -off and within a minute they had raced into the home box, where Kyogo forced a block form Liam Kelly before being flagged offside.
Two minutes later ‘Well were a post width’s from taking a dramatic lead.
O’Donnell slipped the ball in behind Carl Strarfelt, allowing Van Veen to race towards the visitor’s box. But having sped past the advancing Joe Hart, the Dutch striker, from a tight angle slammed the ball against the upright.
Motherwell’s game plan and diligence in the opening spell was undone after 15 minutes when they cheaply conceded the opening goal. Slattery’s smart intervention in the box broke up the Celtic attack.
However, having taken the ball towards the touchline he dallied and lost possession to Matt O’Riley who immediately squared the ball across the six yard box where Kyogo sidefooted it past Kelly.
Things got worse for ‘Well after 20 minutes. Mugabi did well to block Aaron Mooy’s run into the box but injured himself in the process which ultimately led to Solholm resuming his position alongside Ricki Lamie.
Despite those early setbacks the Steelmen stuck to their task of restricting Celtic and marking them tightly in the ‘Well half.
Bar a couple of efforts from Jota and Mooy which Kelly scooped to safety the home goal was seldom threatened.
Ten minutes from half time Slattery audacious attempt almost caught out Hart. When Greg Taylor gave possession to the former Southampton academy player, he had only one though as he sent the ball high over the Celtic ‘keeper only to watch it drift eight yards wide of an open goal.
History was made at Fir Park when the first VAR check was made to review an off the ball clash between O’Donnell and Reo Hatate but despite calls for the Japanese midfielder to be cautioned, referee Willie Collum took no action.
The second half resumed with Connor Shields replacing Van Veen and the forwards pace immediately caused the Celtic defence its first uncomfortable spell of the evening.
It also forced Hart into his first save, comfortably holding O’Donnell’s low left foot drive from 20 yards.
As Motherwell pressed towards the visitor’s goal it was more a case of Celtic countering on the break.
And after 56 minutes Jota carried the ball 50 yards before lobbing the ball over Kelly and into the net only for VAR to confirm the view from the press box that the winger was narrowly offside when he received the pass from Kyogo.
On the hour mark the ‘Well boss underlined his intentions when he changed to a more attacking formation sending on Louis Moult and Ross Tierney for midfield pair Spittal and Cornelius.
With 15 minutes remaining both sides looked capable of producing the next goal. And after Giorgos Giakoumakis lifted the ball over the bar at one end. Moult’s downward header from Matt Penny’s cross, bounced narrowly over with the ‘keeper flat footed.
The next goal attempt from the Steelmen came in the 78th minutes when O’Donnell smashed his drive into the advertising hoardings behind Hart’s goal.
What should have been a killer second goal from Celtic arrived six minutes from time.
Penny’s attempt to take a quick throw in gave possession to Liel Abada who immediately released Daizen Maeda. He powered towards Kelly’s goal before driving the ball under the ‘keeper to make it 2-0 and celebrate his inclusion to Japan’s World Cup squad.
Those celebrations were immediately muted when ‘Well pulled one back straight from the kick-off.
Slattery’s fine long ball through the middle of the home box found Tierney who turned on the volley to steer it beyond Hart to set up a tense final 10 minutes.
Despite once again failing to take anything for their endeavours, the ‘Well fans showed their appreciation of the players efforts in making Celtic work all the way to the final whistle for their three points.
A quiet man with a sharp focus on his tasks at hand, Sean Goss can sometimes go unnoticed in the world outside of football.
He’s not flashy on social media and is quite a private person. But he’s got self-confidence within him to know that there is more to him than perhaps meets the eye.
Now 27, he’s carried some big responsibility of representing football institutions like Manchester United, while also coping with the pressure of another in Rangers during a tough time off the park.
There’s also a job at hand as a charity ambassador on top of providing an experienced hand for those who need it. The most games he’s played for one club is Shrewsbury Town, raking in 54 appearances.
He’ll likely break that with the Steelmen this season but it perhaps lends itself to a tag of inexperience. That’s not what Goss has been told – or feels – anyway.
“I think it’s the opposite,” when Goss fielded a question on youthful perceptions.
“I am not too sure. Anytime I speak to people they think I am a lot older.
“At 27, I think that is old! I think the main thing has been consistency and getting games. I haven’t had the best of luck with injuries but the last two years or so have been really good for me to get that run of games.
“I have been able to build consistency in my performances. I am a bit older now and I have been about some big changing rooms so hopefully that helps the younger ones in our changing room just now.
“Being able to train every day with world-class players, you obviously learn so much from those days. Any way I can help the younger lads here I will do my best to do.
“If you are a bit quiet on social media, people only really get to see you on a Saturday afternoon. The fans will always expect a lot from you and we will always give 100%. But like all the lads, everyone has so many different experiences and upbringings. I just want to work hard and do my best for the club.”
He’s well-versed in interviews like this now, too. His start to football in Exeter was a stark contrast to the situation he found himself in when moving to Man United, where suddenly he had the eyes of the world on him.
Of course playing in that famous red jersey is a pressure on its own but there are other things that perhaps aren’t noticed as much that can be just as daunting – like appearing on the club’s TV channel for the first time.
Now, this is no small audience. No little segment for the die-hards to watch. This is watched globally by a huge audience and at the time Goss had joined, they were still the team to beat in the Premier League. But such nervy experiences in front of the cameras prepared well for life in the spotlight.
“I joined United when I was 16 and I was at Exeter beforehand,” the midfielder reminisced. “I didn’t have things like media training beforehand but going to United, the difference is something I can’t even describe.
“It does help massively with those sorts of things, your first time going on MUTV and they are setting you up and your polo is drenched! It all worked alright in the end.
“The lucky thing about your first ones on MUTV is that they aren’t live! It takes about three hours to do a 10-minute interview!”
Perhaps Goss’ biggest challenge – or certainly one of them – in his career has been his battle with eosinophilic oesophagitis. This happens when white blood cells deposit in the lining of the oesophagus, which is the muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. It can be the result of an allergic reaction to food or the environment.
“It was basically when I was diagnosed, it was a conversation I had with them just because of the exposure from football. They thought it could really help grow the awareness of it and I think it takes around an average of seven years to get diagnosed with it.
It was there during his days at Old Trafford and Ibrox, without him knowing what it was that was wrong. He relied on protein shakes as meal substitutes and slept for large periods not training or playing as his body was unable to fuel properly.
Given he is a professional athlete, it hampered the early stages of his career. Goss spoke about it earlier this year for the first time since moving to ML1 and has been enlightened by the response he’s got.
Following on from the likes of team-mate Bevis Mugabi working with good causes, he is now an ambassador for EOS Network,
a charity which tackles the illness he battles. It has to be done with passion, but supporting such causes is important for footballers in the public eye.
“When I got diagnosed, it took me about six or seven years,” explained the midfielder. “It was a really tough time for me as I knew something was wrong but I hadn’t found out what it was or put in the right direction for what it was.
“For anyone who is suffering with it and doesn’t know what it is, we want to be able to cut that time down as much as possible.
“I know how hard it is to live with. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be suffering with it. I think it is important, especially if it is something you feel passionate and strongly about.
“Bevis has done his thing and I think that is brilliant. It isn’t something everybody does and it’s not anything I would do either if I didn’t feel really strongly about it, to be honest.
“I am really keen to help out as much as I can as I do feel so strongly about this. I didn’t know what it was for so long and speaking with the charity, it’s crazy. When they were explaining things, it brought up memories of what I had as well.
“It was good for me as I got put in the right direction. It is good for me to know as much as I can so when people have asked me what the symptoms are, where do I go to help get sorted. When it is something like that, you want to know as much as you can anyway.”
With his second season in claret and amber well underway, Goss is taking all his experiences with him and putting it all into his settled life in Lanarkshire.
One experience he does want to have more of is that feeling of celebration when he hits the net. At the time of writing, Goss is yet to do that under new manager Steven Hammell and with a raft of injuries to forward players, he knows it might be time to add to the CV.
“It’s tough as you can never expect these sorts of things to happen so it’s been frustrating for us, frustrating for the manager as well,” he commented.
“It’s important now we all help to chip in with goals, me included, as it’s been too long since I did.
“Mine was at St Mirren at home last year. I am hoping that when I get one, they start coming again. It’s important we share the load just now as we can’t expect one player to score every single goal.
“You want the strikers to get as many as they can as that is why they’re up there. But we can take the pressure off them by chipping in with some of them.”
There’s a decision to be made on his future come May, but under the new manager Hammell, he now has a freedom to show his true self.
That’s not a commodity he’s always had in his career, and it is why he is keen to savour that now. Goss has been in the central belt with Rangers and slightly further north in Perth at St Johnstone. But it is in Motherwell where he feels comfortable, with a focus now on consistency.
“I am happy here,” the former Red Devil added.
“I have moved around quite a lot so I am happy and settled. It’s been good here. From the start of the season, I have really enjoyed playing in my more comfortable position.
“I feel I can help the team more there and now I just want to help pick up results to go with it. You can see with the way we have played in certain games, there is a lot of freedom for the boys.
“I think everybody enjoys playing under the manager. We just want to pick the results up for him.
“There’s been games we’ve dominated and not gotten what we deserved from it.
“We need to take our chances and then we can stop having the conversations of whether we could have done this or did we do that right.”
Motherwell will now take on Hibernian on Sunday 8 January at Fir Park.
The match was originally due to take place on Saturday 7 January.
Kick-off is 1.30pm with game being show live on Sky Sports.
Liam Kelly has once again been selected in the latest Scotland squad for their upcoming friendly match against Turkey.
Steve Clarke and Scotland travel to Turkey for a friendly match on Wednesday 16 November in the Diyarbakir Stadium.
Kick off is 6pm UK time.
Motherwell manager Steven Hammell is still upset at his sides’ result at Tynecastle on Sunday.
The boss described what Motherwell have to do to beat a rampant Celtic in the cinch Premiership and how they feel fully prepared for the task ahead.
