Celtic back to second

Celtic made it back to back wins at the end of a crucial week as they saw off Motherwell at Fir Park this afternoon.

Celtic fought back from the loss of another early goal, this time a Micheal Higdon header from Tom Hateley cross after only 10 minutes. They were only behind for four minutes before Anthony Stokes side foot volley at the back post had them on level terms.

Both sides struggled to create any chances, with Celtic playing a strange tactic of banging the ball up to Samaras on the left. But the feckless Greek provided little return, with Hateley winning most of the aerial battles.

It took a piece of Paddy McCourt magic from the bench to set up the winner. He sliced through the Motherwell midfield allowing Stokes to find space to fire a low cross into the six yard box which Hooper was glad to side foot home from close range.

Motherwell were reduced to ten men in the closing stages with Tim Clancy shown a straight red for kicking Hooper, it looked innocuous enough to have merited only a yellow.

Celtic will be delighted with the win, but they still looked less than convincing with most people at the game agreeing a draw would have been a fair result. There still appears to be no real leadership or creativity in the team without Ki or Ledley.

They are still a long way short of the standards expected from the Celtic support.