Motherwell 1-2 Celtic: John Kennedy happy with Hoops' spirit

Celtic assistant coach John Kennedy believes Celtic showed their mettle to earn a 2-1 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park.

Motherwell goalkeeper Connor Ripley looked like he was going to frustrate the league leaders with a string of impressive saves in a first-half in which Celtic also missed a penalty from Leigh Griffiths.

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But Griffiths finally beat Ripley a minute before the break before he took his tally for the season to 37 with 15 minutes remaining at Fir Park after Scott McDonald had levelled for the home side.

In spite of his heroics, Ripley was at fault for the winning goal, but the stopper denied Celtic a third goal on a couple of occasions after they had restored their lead.

Kennedy felt Celtic should have been out of sight by half-time, but he praised the players for standing firm as Motherwell made a contest of the game after the break.

With a Aberdeen losing 2-1 to Hearts on Friday, Celtic now require just seven points to clinch a fifth successive Scottish Premiership title with just five matches remaining.

"It was important that we took advantage of Aberdeen slipping up last night," Kennedy said..

"The first half performance was good, we had some good chances but we didn't quite capitalise and in the second half we had to dig very deep but at this time of the season it is about results, that is the most important thing.

"It gives us an extra cushion but take nothing for granted in this game.

"With five games to go and eight points clear I would like to think we could see the job through."

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee was involved in an exchange of words with Ronny Deila at full-time and refused to shake hands with his Celtic counterpart.

Both McGhee and Kennedy played down the incident which apparently rose from a misunderstanding from the 'Well manager.

And while McGhee had few complaints about the result, he believes his side should have been awarded a goal when McDonald put the ball in the net just after the interval.

Sky Sports replays showed the striker had strayed marginally offside though and referee Willie Collum and his assistant made the correct call.

McGhee said: "We were beaten by the Champions elect. They deserved to win the game but we are very aggrieved that once again a decision has gone against us.

"I have watched it over and over and I know the linesman has only one look at it but for me it is onside and it should have stood. But we can't have any complaints."