It was not classic Celtic by any stretch of the imagination and there was a lot of controversy involved in the game as well, with Jota’s disallowed goal by VAR being the main talking point. At the end of the day though, the Hoops had enough in the tank to get a 2-1 win and all three points away at Fir Park against Motherwell to maintain their 7-point lead at the top of the Premiership table over the Rangers.
While Celtic might have gotten the win, they never really found their momentum. Of course, one has to mention the sensational goal from Jota that was chopped off by VAR for being offside, while the angle used to determine that was from the other half of the pitch. One could argue that Motherwell deserved a sending off as well for a late tackle, which only resulted in a yellow.
Ultimately, no damage was caused to Celtic’s title challenge. On the other hand, Motherwell boss, Steven Hammell, rued another narrow defeat for his side, while giving a lot of credit to the opposition and their quality.
As reported by the Daily Record, Hammell said:
"“I think tonight has been consistent with our season.“Again it’s a narrow loss by the odd goal against a very good opposition.“They are one of the best teams I’ve seen in the league for years and we are absolutely at the bare bones.”"
Motherwell boss hails Celtic while ruing his side’s narrow defeat
While Motherwell’s late goal might have meant that the scoreline was 2-1, for most of the night, the game was not very close at all.
Celtic might not be delighted with the manner of the win but they will definitely take the three points happily. With one more game before the World Cup break, it guarantees that they will have at least a four-point lead over the Rangers going into it although it might potentially extend to ten if results go their way.
All in all, it was a positive night for Postecoglou’s side even though questions must be raised about how VAR has been implemented since its introduction in Scottish football.