Celtic 2, Motherwell 0
| Match Date: Saturday, January 2 2002 |
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| Competition: Scottish Premier League | |
| Attendance: 57,648 | |
| Motherwell Team (3-5-2): |
Woods, Ready, Deloumeaux, Strong, Corrigan, Lasley (Elliott 87), Soloy, Dow,
Hammell, McFadden, Kelly.
Subs not used: Brown, Martinez, Adams, Pearson.
Motherwell scorer: McFadden (90).
Yellow Cards: Corrigan, Ready, McFadden, Kelly.
THE LATE SHOW ENDS WELL'S HOPES
Celtic 2 Motherwell 0
TWO VERY LATE GOALS GAVE Celtic a largely uninspired victory over a brave, battling Motherwell side who, for effort alone, deserved to take a point. However, it was the seventh defeat in twelve matches since Eric Black took over and kept Motherwell firmly entrenched in second bottom spot.
An error by Karl Ready almost gave the home side the perfect start, allowing Larsson to run wide and supply Hartson whose cross deceived Woods and came bouncing off the bar. The ball fell for Petrov but he drove well wide. A minute or so later the Motherwell defence were slow to react to the Hartson/Larsson combination giving the latter a free header though he fortunately put it straight into the arms of Woods. Motherwell were not to be pushed back and the lively James McFadden was causing problems in the Celtic midfield. He pounced on a mistake by Balde but the large centre-half managed to muscle his way back into possession in the nick of time. A cross from Mjallby out wide was then met by Petrov though his shot from inside the box went well high. Motherwell broke upfield and a terrific cross from McFadden almost found Kelly in isolation, the ball running just beyond him Balde who quite clearly handled, but nothing was given. Not long afterwards a trademark dive by Larsson went without a card from Referee Freeland.
The Fir Parkers were coming more into things and a clearance by Mjallby cannoned off Hammel who had a sniff at goals until Mjallby recovered to clear. Ready has been much maligned this season but he was looking solid today, and he made an important header ahead of Larsson to nod wide. Larsson then gathered the ball in a suspiciously offside position to supply Hartson who saw a header easily saved. Soon afterwards Hartson was denied by a superb header from Deloumeaux. The Frenchman then had to concede a corner which, when curled across, had Woods flailing at thin air, though the ball ran harmlessly out. Yan Soloy then had an effort from 25 yards go wide of goal. Good play involving Soloy and Corrigan was abruptly ended when Thomson made a cynical challenge to earn himself a yellow card. Deloumeaux stepped up but drove over the bar. A one-two with Soloy then gave McFadden a chance to shoot but his effort was deflected and saved. Larsson was at it again with his "falls" when challenged by Deloumeaux and again there was neither a foul nor a card given. On the half-hour McNamara was very late with a tackle on Hammel on the run but incredibly there was not even a free kick.
Motherwell then conceded two successive corners before the home side came close to scoring. From a free kick in midfield there was no one to accompany Hartson as he stole in at the back post and shot off the post. It was Petrov's turn to go down under minimal contact, this time as McFadden looked to have won the ball cleanly. The free kick was cleared, however, by the boot of Soloy. He himself was the subject of a foul, Thompson sending him crashing to the ground but play continued unsurprisingly until Petrov was robbed by Corrigan, the whistle then stopped play. Larsson won his side another free kick as Ready won the ball quite clearly 35 yards out. Although Ready followed through his momentum surely carried him on. He did win the ball and then the man which surely is not a free kick, never mind a yellow which was issued. Soon afterwards Thompson should have seen his second yellow and therefore a red with a bad challenge on McFadden. Only a free kick was awarded and from it Hartson looked to be backing into Ready but play was waved on. Great defending from Lasley then prevented Thompson running clear with Woods punching the cross well out. Just before the break Celtic pushed for the opener but despite three successive corners the nearest they came was a high Larsson header over.
Half-Time Celtic 0 Motherwell 0
Motherwell began positively in the second half and after a good build-up only a vital interception from Valgaeren stopped Kelly going through onto McFadden's pass. Hartson was then given the benefit of another dodgy Freeland decision when he appeared to lose possession then went crashing to the ground as Ready came across to clear. However, Woods was alert to the free kick and made a superb punch over. Ready was next to look alert as he headed a dangerous cross from Thompson away from Larsson. Seconds later Ready was not so alert as his error allowed Larsson to race clear towards Woods. The Motherwell custodian made a superb block at the expense of a corner. No one appeared to touch the ball as it swung out wide but a second was given.
Clever play with Lasley and Corrigan, followed by Kelly dummy nearly opened the door for McFadden, he being denied by the desperate efforts of Lambert and Valgaeren. Woods was then down smartly to hold a shot from Petrov. There was then the amazing sight of David Kelly being booked. That in itself was not so eye-opening, more the fact that Kelly had attempted to catch the ball after it had gone out of play, the ball bouncing away off his hand and Referee Freeland deeming this deliberate time-wasting. Seconds afterwards a more legitimate booking offence occurred when Hartson was late on Ready but there was no card shown. Woods was determined to stake his claim for the No.1 Motherwell jersey and he made a terrific one-handed save to deny Thompson, then punched the resultant corner clear. The ball was gathered by Soloy and he ran from box to box before inexplicably chipping forward into an empty space. Corrigan was then next Motherwell man booked for a trip on Thompson as the Celtic man ran across the path of the full back. Hardly deliberate but in keeping with Freelands' performance.
A pull by Balde on McFadden went unnoticed and the Motherwell man was able to win possession and attack. He fed Soloy who in turn found Hammel but a crucial delay allowed the Celtic defence to clear. Again Motherwell broke upfield but Deloumeaux was adjudged to have pushed Balde. Play swung to the other end and despite a tug by McNamara on Hammel play continued until Hartson headed over. Another superb save from Woods kept the scoreline blank when he turned a shot from Larsson round the post. Celtic made a change, Petrov making way for Moravcik. There was then the sight of both Lambert and Thompson surrounding Freeland demanding another yellow card for, in their opinion, time-wasting when in fact both should have seen cards sheer petulance. Thompson by now would have realised he could do just about anything and escape further punishment, this being underlined when he took Corrigan out with no attempt to play the ball but still remained on the park. Soon afterwards Thompson took a blatant dive on the edge of the box with play instantly waved on. A break upfield for Motherwell looked promising with Lasley latching onto Soloy's pass wide but he again delayed and the chance was gone. Free kicks given when firstly Balde and then Mjallby upended Kelly and Hammel respectively were wasted and another when Valgaeren took his turn to foul a Motherwell man should have seen something constructive. However, Motherwell lost possession and Celtic broke upfield though Woods was alert to gather the through ball. Celtic then took off Balde in place of Petta.
Referee Freeland was determined to book anything Motherwell did to his dislike and his next victim was McFadden. Looking on side he ran onto Lasley's pass and scored though Freeland deemed this as time wasting and booked him. With ten minutes to go Celtic go the opening goal and their support finally decided to announce they had turned up after all. Lennon punted a long ball which Hartson headed on for Larsson. He managed to shrug of Deloumeaux and, despite mis-hitting the ball, knocked it agonisingly over the line. Motherwell then lost possession from the kick-off and should have fell further behind. Deloumeaux made a rare error allowing Larsson to gather and it took a great block by the Motherwell keeper to keep the score at one down. Motherwell almost drew level when Lasley played a superb ball into the path of McFadden who turned and curled a shot which Douglas saved. Larsson then fell dramatically to the ground gaining a free kick some 25 yards out though Moravcik would have wished he left it to someone else as it sailed way over the bar. Motherwell then took Lasley off in place of Elliott, a substitution way too late in the eyes of most Motherwell fans. With the clock showing 91 minutes Celtic gave the scoreline a flattering look. Larsson looked off side as he ran onto a Moravcik long ball. Making his way to the box he squared for Hartson who picked a spot to the right of Deloumeaux. It was hard on the industrious Motherwell side but the Fir Parkers, punchless, had nothing in response.
Full-time Celtic 2 Motherwell 0
Match Report by Ricky Mullen