Report and highlights as Celtic and Motherwell draw 1-1 at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership; captain Callum McGregor opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half; Kevin Van Veen's second-half solo effort earned the visitors a point
Monday 24 April 2023 09:14, UK
Celtic's winning home league run was ended by Motherwell, who held the champions to a 1-1 draw, but Ange Postecoglou's side need just three points to retain their title.
The hosts deservedly lead at half-time through captain Callum McGregor's deflected long-range drive midway through the first half.
However, after spurning several presentable chances, Celtic were caught on the break 10 minutes into the second period as Kevin van Veen scored a brilliant solo goal to silence the home faithful, the Dutchman's ninth in six matches and his 20th league strike of the season.
Stuart Kettlewell's team hung on thereafter thanks to a combination of brave defending and slack finishing from their hosts, who as a result extended their lead over second-placed Rangers who then lost 2-0 to Aberdeen.
The visitors, meanwhile, stay eighth in the table, while Celtic - who played their final game before the split for the season - saw their run of 17 consecutive victories and 21 successive domestic home wins come to an end.
However, the champions can still break the points record of 106 set by Brendan Rodgers's Invincibles side in 2017 - if they win their five remaining matches.
Motherwell had the first chance when Callum Butcher volleyed over after Joe Hart's unconvincing punch, but Celtic soon settled into their usual dominance without cutting their visitors open.
With Tomoki Iwata starting again, McGregor had licence to get forward and he curled just over before setting up Daizen Maeda for a headed chance which Liam Kelly stopped.
The skipper had no second thoughts about shooting when he received the ball 25 yards out in the 24th minute and Dan Casey's attempt to block inadvertently took the ball out of Kelly's reach and into the bottom corner.
Maeda missed a half-chance and Sead Haksabanovic shot straight at Kelly from 22 yards as Celtic remained on top for the rest of the half.
Kyogo Furuhashi turned Casey and scuffed wide just after the interval but the move proved costly to Motherwell as the Irish defender injured himself and had to go off for Shane Blaney.
The game changed in the 55th minute when Celtic left Greg Taylor one on one with Van Veen and Callum Slattery's swift ball forward allowed the Dutchman to get up a head of steam. The striker turned one way and the other and lifted the
ball beyond Hart.
Motherwell soon had a chance to go ahead when Paul McGinn was allowed a free header from a corner but the ball just drifted too far in front of the defender to get a proper connection,
Kelly made an excellent stop from Furuhashi following Matt O'Riley's through ball before Van Veen displayed his skill and confidence by skipping past several opponents and firing a shot from 25 yards which Hart got down to hold.
Furuhashi was booked for trying to punch the ball into the net before Kelly saved headers from Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt.
Hyeon-Gyu Oh headed wide from three yards as the game entered the closing stages and Starfelt headed over from the final chance.
Analysis by Sky Sports' Richard Morgan:
"While Celtic will no doubt be frustrated by not beating mid-table Motherwell this, it is only a slight delay in their
inevitable title celebrations.
"There was a light air of complacency at Celtic Park, especially after the hosts took a deserved lead midway through the first period.
"It then seemed just a matter of time before Ange Postecoglou's side scored again to wrap up the win, but the visitors - who missed two good early openings - were having none of it and clearly had not read the pre-match script!
"And what a goal it was to get them a point as Netherlands striker Van Veen scored a memorable solo goal - his 20th in the league this season - to silence the home faithful, although his team-mates still had a lot of work to do in order to be confirmed of a draw.
"All of which means Celtic now need two wins to be sure of retaining their title, which they should do after the season resumes following its split."
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou:
"It was a disappointing outcome. And the performance was not really at the levels we have shown before.
"We controlled the game pretty well for the most part. First half was fine, we scored our goal and we had chances to get a second and didn't take our chances.
"We were in control and knew the game would kind of open up but we concede a really poor goal from our perspective which gives the opposition some encouragement.
"Then we lost our composure a little and got a bit desperate at times but having said that we created good chances and didn't take them.
"When you set the standards we set you have just got to make sure you are doing everything within your control to maintain and reach those standards.
"It's unlike us to concede such a poor goal and that seemed to filter into our play after that.
"We were trying to chase the game a little bit which we have been pretty good at not doing but it's only natural that the guys are going to want to try and make amends and score a goal. I just thought we lacked a bit of composure to do that."
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell:
"I don't want to celebrate a point but when you look at the nature of the game and gulf in finances between the clubs, it speaks volumes for my players. They were outstanding to a man.
"I've just told them the biggest thing is not having an ego, I really believe that. For us to set ourselves up to play the way we did, if one player has an ego, the whole thing falls down and Celtic win comfortably. That's what pleased me most.
"It was about bravery because we stood up to them defensively. And it was about committing to attacks. Our game plan was to try and leave Kevin up there in a one-v-one situation.
"Our goal comes from that, it came up trumps for us. We know his quality but you need players to execute it.
"It was such a good goal. We gave him licence to be a bit detached from the rest of the team. I don't normally do that but we know he carries a threat in those situations.
"He makes defenders feel comfortable but one moment of quality can get him into good areas. He still had masses of work to do to score."
Celtic's attention turns to the Scottish Cup with a semi-final against Rangers at Hampden Park on April 30.
The Scottish Premiership will return on the weekend on May 6/7 when it splits into the top six and bottom six.
The fixtures are yet to be announced.
