Match date : Saturday 15th November 1997 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 48,010
Motherwell scorers : Owen Coyle (28) and Mickey Weir (90).
EMERGENCY WARD 'WELL MAKE CELTS SICK
Celtic 0 Motherwell 2COUPON-BUSTERS MOTHERWELL produced a gritty, determined performance at Celtic Park on Saturday to take all three points in a tousy encounter. Motherwell, missing 8 players with first-team experience, had to put out the youngest defence in the Premier League for many years, though John Philliben showed all his experience to ensure each became a footballing man.
The 'Well back five included three players who came through the ranks, one who cost just £10,000, and veteran Philliben, and for the first 25 minutes or so they had to endure attack after attack as Celtic seemed determined to have the game over and done with in double-quick time. However, the visitors rearguard refused to buckle, despite some intimidating pressure. As early as fourth minute, Celtic were awarded a foul after Donnelly and Valakari collided. Stevie Woods, fast becoming a Fir Park Hero, produced a stunning save from Stubbs' piledriver. From the corner, Stubbs again got in to power a header towards the far left-hand corner, but Man-of-the-Match Simo Valikari touched the ball round the post. Sixty seconds later Celtic thought they had the lead when Larsson headed home, but he was well off-side. And in the tenth minute, Larsson headed against the bar pushing Valakari out of the road to get to Burley's cross, justice being done with the rebound being cleared. Blinker was tormenting the Motherwell defence, though to be fair he was up against Stevie McMillan, a left-footed full-back playing out of position. The ex-Sheffield Wednesday man sent in a cross in 15 minutes which somehow McNamara, Donnelly and Larrson couldn't connect with, but Stevie Craigan's outstretched heel did, and McMillan completed the clearance. McNamara saw a shot well saved by Woods having been set up by home debut boy Paul Lambert, the ex-Motherwell man had what could best be described as a "quiet" day. Having weathered Celtic's blitz, Motherwell produced a real smash-and-grab goal which, for their sheer effort, no-one could deny them. John Philliben floated in a free-kick to the edge of the D which Hendry flicked on. Lee McCulloch laid it on for Coyle, and he adjusted his position before firing in a grounder which deflected off McCulloch and sent Gould the wrong way, the ball nestling in the corner of the net. It was no more than Motherwell deserved, though it should have been a mere consolation. The fact that it wasn't was entirely Celtic's fault. It almost got worse for Celtic, John Hendry raced clear but with McCulloch to his left Hendry chose to shoot only for Gould to excellently save. The main threat for Celtic then removed himself from the field when, with 33 minutes gone, Blinker callously elbowed Kevin Christie in the throat. The Referee had no option but to send Blinker off, though this should have been the second red-card for the dreadlocked winger after the previous Fir Park meeting between the clubs. Coyle almost made it two when his chip went the wrong side of Gould's post as Motherwell began to believe they could take the points. Celtic did come back somewhat towards half-time, firstly Stubbs saw his header cleared by McMillan, then Celtic had another "goal" disallowed when Donnelly needlessly handled before Burley put the ball into the net.
Half-Time Celtic 0 Motherwell 1The start of the second-half saw a resurgence in Celtic's efforts to get back on level terms, with Larrson sending in a great free-kick only for McMillan, brillantly positioned, to head off the line and clear. Motherwell were not to be outdone, and Kevin Christie showed he has a powerful shot too when he crashed a free-kick round the wall and only an inch or two past the post and Gould' s disparing dive. It was almost a full 15 minutes before the next near-thing came along, Lambert sending Larsson wide, and his lay-off found McNamara whose shot whistled past. Woods then made another outstanding save when he blocked a Reiper header. Such was becoming Celtic's desperation, they moved the Danish International to centre-forward in an attempt to square the match. Motherwell were fighting for everything that was going, showing the sort of determination and guts which gets teams results, and no-one could deny them the points as they scrapped for everything. Rightly or wrongly, they suffered six bookings, though Referee Young was too quick at times to book rather than lecture. Dougie Arnott then made his first appearance of the season following a lengthy lay-off through injury, and he added bite to the Motherwell attack. The Celtic defence struggled to contain him, and how Alan Stubbs got away with a clear hauling back of the diminutive striker when clean through is anyone's guess. Celtic brought on the pacey Thom, but he struggled to add any urgency to the home sides' play. In 74 minutes Owen Coyle missed a great opportunity when he lobbed wide in good position, a second goal would have sealed things. Motherwell could have been forgiven had they brought on Trialist Marko Tuomela, a Finnish International centre-half, to tighten things up in defence, but instead Alex McLeish made the positive move of swapping the hard-working John Hendry with Mickey Weir. As time was running rapidly out, Celtic launched into attack, an attack which ultimately broke down and the ball was played out wide to Owen Coyle. He evaded Stubbs desperate lunge and cut inside the box. Drawing Gould and Annoni, who had replaced the cramped Lambert, Coyle side-footed to Weir, on the penalty-spot, and he made no mistake to seal the match in Motherwell's favour. Parkhead emptied rapidly, and at the final whistle (some 6 minutes of injury time were then played despite there being no lengthy stoppages) which came when Referee Young deceided he wanted to go home, the three hundred or so Motherwell supporters roundly applauded their team who reciprocated in kind.
A great performance by a hugely-understrength Motherwell side, whilst Celtic can have no complaints whatsoever.
FINAL SCORE CELTIC 0 MOTHERWELL 2