It was much nervier than most Celtic fans would’ve liked however on a cold winter’s night in Lanarkshire, the Hoops came away with the all important three points.
Kyogo opened the scoring 15 minutes in before Daizen Maeda doubled the visitors’ lead six from time. Ross Tierney got one back for Motherwell a few minutes later although in the end, it wasn’t enough and the champions took the points.
Joe Hart – 7/10
The Englishman was ample with the ball at his feet and was commanding in his box when collecting crosses. Hart didn’t have many saves to make however was unable to keep a clean sheet.
Josip Juranovic – 7/10
Reinstated to the Celtic starting lineup, Josip Juranovic done well at Fir Park. The Croatian got up and down the right hand side with ease, contributing in attack but also being streetwise when defending to help his side to victory.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – 7/10
Captaining Celtic tonight, Cameron Carter-Vickers was stout at the back. Winning numerous headers, the American also pinged some sublime passes out from defence as he kept up the consistency in his performances.
Carl Starfelt – 7/10
The Swedish central defender made his first domestic appearance since September’s Glasgow derby this evening and although he made a slow start to the game, Starfelt grew into it as it went on ended up being one of the Hoops’ standouts at the back. The 27 year old was confident as ever when bringing the ball out from defence, making a few characteristic strides into midfield whilst also remaining stout defensively, clearing several balls out of the Celtic box.
Greg Taylor – 5/10
The Scottish left back excelled after coming off the bench at the weekend however this evening, Taylor was poor. The 25 year old misplaced a number of passes and had some shaky moments defensively. It will be intriguing to see whether he or Alexandro Bernabei gets the nod for the visit of Ross County to Parkhead on Saturday.
Matt O’Riley – 7/10
Once more, Matt O’Riley shone in the holding role in the Celtic midfield. The Dane showed great perseverance to win the ball back inside the opposition box and then to put it on a plate for Kyogo for his side’s opener. As well as significantly contributing to a goal, the 21 year old was a lively presence in the engine room, recovering the ball many times and putting in the hard yards.
Reo Hatate – 6/10
Similarly to the weekend against Dundee United, the Japanese wasn’t a particular standout in the Celtic midfield yet didn’t do anything noticeably wrong either. Hatate kept play ticking over in the middle of the park before coming off 69 minutes in.
Aaron Mooy – 6/10
Aaron Mooy made his return to the Celtic lineup this evening off the back of an Australia World Cup call up on Tuesday and was rather average. The 32 year old kept his passing fairly accurate in midfield and was unfortunate not to net in the first half when his effort was blocked by Bevis Mugabi.
Liel Abada – 5/10
After scoring off the bench on Saturday, Liel Abada was rewarded with a start at Motherwell tonight. The Israeli, though, was extremely muted and failed to threaten the opposition defence or goal in any manner in a subdued performance.
Jota – 6/10
Granted, Jota did make quite a few loose passes however the Portuguese was extremely unfortunate to have his lovely chip ruled out for offside in the second half. Playing on the left throughout, the 23 year old did have a number of shots on goal but none that caused Liam Kelly any notable bother.
Kyogo – 7/10
It was Kyogo who got the nod at centre forward for Celtic this evening and the Japanese firmly took his opportunity, netting a quarter of an hour in with the simplest of tap ins. As well as scoring, the 27 year old contributed a fair bit defensively and put in a lot of hard yards up top at times.
Substitutes
Sead Haksabanovic came on for Liel Abada with half an hour to go and was vivacious on the right. The Montenegrin constantly ran at his man and was tidy with the ball at his feet.
Giorgos Giakoumakis and David Turnbull then came on with around 20 to go and whilst the Greek striker was rather clumsy, he did provide a different dynamic up top.
Turnbull, on the other hand, significantly contributed to Celtic’s second of the night, beautifully playing fellow sub Daizen Maeda, who was brought on 80 minutes in, in behind the ‘Well defence with a line-breaking pass which the Japanese quickly ran on to to finish clinically.
Other than his goal, Maeda didn’t do too much although it was hard for him to do so due to him being on the field for only ten minutes. This was a similar plight to that of Oliver Abildgaard’s although the Dane did put himself about a bit via his physical presence.
Although it was rather knee-jerking at times, Celtic still walked away from Lanarkshire with all three points.
Daizen Maeda’s goal eventually proved crucial in a match that it is fair to say wasn’t the most exciting at times. Nevertheless, the Hoops’ seven point lead was maintained and that is all that matters for Ange Postecoglou and his men at this stage of the season.
