Match date : Saturday 10th January 1998 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 12,350
Motherwell scorer : Willie Falconer (55)
FALC SWOOPS FOR POINT AS CELTS PAY PENALTY
Motherwell 1 Celtic 1WILLIE FALCONER scored against his former team-mates to earn Motherwell a deserved point at Fir Park. It was a case of tit-for-tat as Paul Lambert also bit the hand that once fed him, though there was controversy as the visitors were given every opportunity to steal the points.
Having won at Parkhead in the last meeting between the sides, Motherwell clearly fancied their chances of making it a double, whilst Celtic, fresh from their recent Old Firm win, went into the match seemingly brimming with confidence. In the first minute Celtic forced a corner when Newman was unlucky to see the ball break off him and cross the byline. Woods, however, made a confident clutch from McNamara's inswinger. From the kick-out McCulloch's header was flicked on by Coyne for Coyle. He and Boyd chased the ball to the by-line, with former 'Well man Boyd forced into conceeding the flag kick. Coyne forced Gould into a poor clearance, though with both Coyle and Newman ready to pounce Boyd booted clear. Celtic broke up the park, and from McNamara's corner, Newman headed clear only for Wieghorst's return to break in favour of Larsson. Newman recovered brilliantly to block as the Swede looked certain to score. Larsson then shot tamely from 30 yards as the corner fell in his direction. Celtic were certainly upping the pace at this point, and from another McNamara corner, Coyne's poor clearance was met by Mahe on the bounce and his shot wasn't far away. Stubbs then had a terrific effort fly just over the bar with Woods beaten as the visitors clearly looked to take control of the game. However, Motherwell rode the storm, and almost took the lead themselves soon after Stubbs effort. Coyle's lay-off for Garcin saw the recently-returned Frenchman send in a rocket which only just cleared the crossbar. Motherwell then forced a corner after McCulloch, having an excellent match, forced Mahe into an error. McMillan's far-post ball was met by the unmarked Tommy Coyne but his first-time volley flew into the side netting as the pendulum of pressure swung again. Just prior to the interval both sides had a great chance to grab the opener. Boyd's far post ball was headed back in by Wieghorst. As the ball broke of Martin, the ineffective Braatback sent the ball back.....into the Cooper Stand. Motherwell had the last chance of the half, McSkimming fouled rather crudely by Lambert 30 yards out. Garcin and Coyne's 1-2 set up McSkimming, and his 22-yard shot was palmed away by Gould and cleared.
Half-Time Motherwell 0 Celtic 0Motherwell began the second half determined to take the game to Celtic, and the home side attacked from the off. Boyd had to look smart to cut out an excellent ball from Coyle which had it reached McCulloch would have sent the young striker clear on Gould. Young Lee McCullcoh was having quite a match, and, having broken up a dangerous Celtic attack with a well-timed tackle on Mahe inside the box, sent a terrific long ball downfield which only just evaded Coyle and fell into Goulds hands. It was all Motherwell at this point, and it took a comination of Boyd and McNamara to prevent Coyle racing down the wing. McSkimming forced a corner, and as McCulloch swung the ball in deep, Willie Falconer rose above everyone to head home and send the Motherwell support delirious. In an attempt to get right back into the game, Celtic threw everything forward, and it took good defending by Falconer to block a fierce Burley shot. The ball broke to Larsson, he in turn sent it wide to McNamara, and his far-post cross was met by Bratbaak who knocked the ball back into goals, but the ball was expertly saved by Woods, who collected at the second attempt as the ball was chested down by Rob Newman. Motherwell swept up the park, Garcin out to Coyle, and his pass to McCulloch saw the ball being blocked for a corner. That was only cleared as far as McCullcoh, whose low 16-yard shot whizzed just past. Paul Lambert then scored what could only be described as a goal-of-the-season candidate to drag Celtic level. After playing a 1-2 with Wieghorst on the half-way line he ran forward and unleashed a 30-yard piledriver which raced into the top left-hand corner. Soon after came the moment of controversey. Lambert's pass to Larsson on the edge of the box saw Martin challenge, and whilst there was minimal contact Larsson's clear dive amazingly resulted in a penalty, with Martin and Coyle booked for protesting. Quite how Referee Clark managed to come to the conclusion that it was a spot-kick was mystifying, but justice was certainly done when Jackson meekly drove the ball wide. Both sides made late substitutions, Motherwell bringing on Eliphas Shivute whilst Celtic replaced the quiet Bratbaak with Blinker. Stefan Mahe then attempted to copy his team-mate Larsson by "falling" in the box, though this time Ref Clark ignored the claim. With seconds left, Gould's clearance fell to Falconer on the half-way line. The Motherwell hero headed forwards for McMillan to chase, and as he entered the box he dinked a cross to the far post for Coyle to head goalwards. Unfortunately for Motherwell Coyle's off-balance header fell into Goulds hands on the line, and the game ended soon after all-square. A good point for Motherwell who travel to Ibrox full of optomisim, whilst Celtic must count themselves fortunate not to have lost.
FULL-TIME MOTHERWELL 1 CELTIC 1