Scottish Premiership
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC…2
(Welsh 2, Edouard 50)

MOTHERWELL…1
(Campbell 66)

Celtic recorded a convincing victory over Motherwell in a 2-1 win at Paradise. The Hoops saw their two-goal lead reduced in the latter stages of the game but managed to see the contest out to take all three points.

Stephen Welsh put Celtic ahead inside two minutes with his first Celtic goal and Odsonne Edouard doubled the lead shortly after half-time. The visitors reduced the lead through Allan Campbell’s shot.

The visitors had no chance to settle as they immediately found themselves under pressure from Celtic. A corner inside the first two minutes was taken by David Turnbull and Welsh bulleted a great header beyond the keeper to give his side an early lead.

Turnbull nearly doubled Celtic’s lead a few minutes later when he controlled a headed clearance with his chest and teed himself up for a great volley from 20-yards but it was too close to the keeper.

Celtic maintained a good level of pressure on their opponents in the early stages as they patiently searched for more openings in the Motherwell defence. There was a variety to Celtic’s attacking play with attacks coming from the wide areas and through the middle.

Taylor, in particular, was lively down the left flank as he constantly surged forward in support and delivered good balls into the box. He lifted a cross onto the head of Ajeti but the Swiss striker’s looping header was comfortably saved by Kelly in the Motherwell goal.

Kenny threatened Motherwell on the opposite flank as well and almost scored midway through the first half. A quick breakaway from Celtic saw Rogic with the ball on the edge of the area. He rolled the ball into the path of Kenny and his powerful shot across goal was blocked by Kelly’s outstretched foot.

Edouard used his excellent footwork to create some chances for himself. His first attempt came with a quick turn near the byline which opened up space for him to shoot from a tight angle but Lamie dived in to block the shot.

Some neat one-touch play in the final third created a good chance for Rogic late in the first half. Kenny zipped a good pass into the feet of Ajeti and the striker set Rogic up with his first touch. Rogic rolled the ball onto his left foot and shot but his attempt was blocked on route to goal.

Celtic started the second half well and looked determined to increase their lead early on. Taylor drilled a pass straight to Edouard's feet and the Frenchman seamlessly turned and shot in one motion but his attempt flew just wide of the post.

Turnbull came close to doubling Celtic’s lead a minute later but his glancing header at the near post from Kenny’s cross was straight at the keeper.

The pressure paid off in the 50th minute when Edouard scored his fifth goal in four league games. Taylor cut a pass back to McGregor and the Celtic midfielder drove forward and slipped a pass to Edouard. He took a touch, turned and drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

Ajeti was inches away from increasing Celtic’s lead around five minutes later when he slid in to try and steer Turnbull’s cross over the line but the cross was inches out of reach.

Turnbull always looked a threat whenever he was given a yard of space in the final third and he was unfortunate not to score against his former team after Kelly got a fingertip to his excellent long-range effort.

Motherwell rarely threatened until they scored in the 66th minute. It took an excellent dipping shot from Campbell to reduce Celtic’s lead.

Motherwell grew in confidence following their goal and enjoyed more possession in the latter stages of the game. They came close to drawing level with just over 10 minutes remaining when Cole nearly got on the end of Long’s cross into the six-yard box.

Rogic was denied a great goal by an excellent save from Kelly late on. The Australian weaved his way through the Well defence and took aim for the top corner only to have the keeper palm away his shot.

Diego Laxalt made a vital clearance in the dying moments of the game when he made a goalline clearance seconds before the referee blew for full-time.

CELTIC: Bain, Taylor (Laxalt 70), Brown (Soro 70), Ajeti (Griffiths 67), Turnbull (Elyounoussi 80), Kenny, Rogic, Edouard, Ajer, McGregor, Welsh
Subs: Barkas, Duffy, Klimala, Johnston, Henderson.

MOTHERWELL: Kelly, O’Donnell, Mugbi, Lamie, Carroll, Campbell, Crawford (O’Hara 67), Maguire (, Smith 81), Long, Cole, Watt (Roberts 67).
Subs: Morrison, Hastie, Polworth, Cornelius, Johnston, Magloire

Website Man of the Match: Stephen Welsh

Welsh and Edouard give Celtic a win over Motherwell