Celtic 4, Motherwell 0

Match Date: Wednesday, April 5 2000
Competition: Premier League
Attendance: 47,000

Motherwell Team:

Woods, Corrigan, Kemble, Strong (McGowan 24), McMillan, Goodman (Nevin 33), Brannan, Davies, Twaddle, Curcic (Nicholas), McCulloch.
Subs not used: Brown, Harvey.

MISERY FOR WELL AMIDST CONTROVERSEY AT PARKHEAD

Inside the first minute Celtic pushed forward with Berkovic. His pass wide gave Blinker the chance to shoot and although Woods dropped the ball the second shot was deflected into Woods's arms. Soon after a foul on Greg Strong was ignored giving Berkovic an opportunity but his 18-yard effort went narrowly past. Motherwell put together their first move of the match with Curcic breaking in the middle. Passing to Kemble, he in turn picked out Davies though McNamara came across to put the ball out, with Celtic also being given the throw much to Davies' disgust. However, Crainey put the ball out of play with a wild slice from Goodman's cross, though McMillan's corner was poor. A minute later some great skill from Curcic saw him race along the 18-yard line and as Wieghorst challenged the ball deflected to Davies. He passed wide to the unmarked Goodman but a late flag denied him the chance to run in on goals. Celtic took the lead after 7 minutes with a soft free-kick. Kemble appeared to win the ball when challenging Blinker, but the fall convinced McCluskey to award a free-kick 30 yards out. Johnston fired in a shot which went straight through the wall and beyond Woods, with both wall and keeper looking suspect. Berkovic then almost had a chance to run clear buy the ball from Johnston was just too strong. Motherwell went close to levelling when Twaddle's cross was deflected round the post by Crainey. Don Goodman picked up the ball from the corner, cut inside and his low shot forced Gould into a low save. The Fir Parkers were not lying down and Ged Brannan saw his shot on the line of the box strike Mjallby on the arm but McCluskey waved the claims away. Celtic broke upfield and Davies was forced to concede the corner. As the ball came in Viduka used Strong for leverage and hit the bar with a header, Strong soon to depart due to the injury sustained. It was Motherwell who burst upfield and, after Wieghorst had put the ball behind for a corner, Benito Kemble had a chance and should have done better with a free header. Davies then sent a long ball up to McCulloch who, when trying to flick the ball beyond Mjallby, had a strong claim for hand-ball once again denied. Celtic then won another corner though this time Wieghorst sent the ball well over the bar. Greg Strong was struggling and he was unable to stop Viduka racing past him though the shot hit the side netting. Strong was then substituted for McGowan. Motherwell should have levelled after 25 minutes when, from McMillan's corner, Brannan raced in unmarked but headed over. Petrov went close for the home side when he slid in to divert the ball goal-wards though Woods was able to gather. Berkovic then set up Viduka with a chance but his mis-hit effort in front of goals was cleared downfield by McMillan. Celtic doubled their lead in 32 minutes amidst controversy. A pass forward struck Don Goodman on the head causing him to collapse, and although the Motherwell Doctor and Physio raced onto the pitch Referee McCluskey allowed play to continue. With the Motherwell players expecting play to be stopped Berkovic began a move which, running onto Viduka's knock, he finished with a tap behind Woods. Play should have been stopped the second the Motherwell backroom staff entered the field, but even though the Referee and the Linesman saw this, they only stopped play once the goal had been scored. Goodman was taken off in some distress on a stretcher whilst being replaced by Nevin. Motherwell defender Stevie McMillan was then booked for a trip on Berkovic. Celtic then forced two quick corners and from the second Petrov headed over. A run by Petrov and the subsequent cross almost gave Viduka a chance but a great interception by Corrigan stopped a shot on goals at the expense of a corner which Wieghorst headed well past. Motherwell were not for giving up, and they should have pulled a goal back when Gould's attempted punch clear fell to Curcic some 16 yards from goal. With the net beckoning he fired over the bar much to the disappointment of his team-mates. Right on half time Kemble and Blinker clashed at the bye-line though both recovered after treatment. Celtic were given the corner though despite a flap at the ball by Woods Motherwell cleared downfield. Curcic send Twaddle clear on the wing but he held the ball up and was dis-possessed by Petrov. However, Nevin picked up the loose ball and combining with Brannan gave Twaddle the chance to cross deep. With no-one at the back post the ball was easily cleared.

Within sixty seconds of the re-start the Fir Parkers came agonisingly close to reducing the deficit. A terrific ball by Nevin to Twaddle wide on the left saw the winger shoot beyond Gould but also painfully close to the far post. Petrov the cut inside McMillan as Celtic attacked but his shot was dealt with by Woods. Another hand-ball incident was ignored soon after, this time Brannan's chip for McCulloch looked to have been palmed away by Mjallby. A blatant late foul by Berkovic went unpunished though Brannan's retaliatory strike soon after gained him a yellow card. Lee McCulloch then took advantage of some Mjallby hesitancy to race towards goal but Crainey was able to block his effort and the ball ran through to Gould. It took a brilliant tackle by Kemble to deny a run by Viduka which looked like taking him in on Woods. The attempted mop-up by McGowan was insufficient giving Berkovic the chance to shoot but Woods was able to save. Kemble and Viduka then chased a Lambert pass and although it looked like Viduka had knocked the ball behind Celtic were given the corner which Viduka connected with but headed well over the cross-bar. Blinker then looked certain to cause Woods some problems though he was thwarted by a great recovery tackle by Corrigan. With two Motherwell players booked for no more than soft-ish challenges Petrov was allowed to walk away scot-free after a two-footed tackle from behind on Lee McCulloch. A run by Blinker into the box looked dangerous though Brannan came across and he forced Blinker to run the ball out. A poor kickout by Woods fell straight to Viduka and he ran forward but fired wide from 18 yards. Jamie McGowan then became the latest Motherwell player to be booked when he tackled Petrov, though seconds later a deliberate tug by Lambert on McCulloch brought only a free-kick to Motherwell. A brave run by Kemble saw him make ground to the 18-yard line and the shot looked set to trouble Gould had Mjallby not thrown himself in front of the effort and deflected it away. Motherwell were not throwing in the towel just yet with Corrigan's great pass to Davies cut-out by a good piece of defending by Petrov. The corner by McMillan was, however, poor. Stevie Nicholas then replaced the tiring Sasa Curcic. Slack play by Corrigan and Woods gave away a corner which fortunately came to nothing. Not long afterwards Celtic forced another couple of corners which ended with a Petrov shot over. However, Motherwell then contributed to their own downfall with some shocking defending to gift two goals to Celtic. Firstly a terrible header back by Kemble from 30 yards out fell woefully short giving Johnston the easiest of chances to lob Woods. Then soon after, McNamara picked out Blinker who had peeled off Kemble and he had an easy task to shoot home. Stevie Woods then made a great save to deny Viduka after he had outpaced Kemble just seconds later. Celtic made a double-substitution with Viduka and Berkovic being replaced by Moravcik and Burchill. Woods again made a great save from Burchill as he ran on to Johnston's pass though soon after Johnston was replaced by Kennedy. With time running out Motherwell came close to reducing the score when Lee McCulloch fired inches over from 20 yards out.