Getting (a) Los(s)t in the jungle // Celtic 3-1 Motherwell

An Elijah Just goal wasn't enough for Motherwell as the Steelmen succumbed to a 3-1 defeat from the league holders.

Credit: Motherwell FC

A game which promised a lot.

Motherwell. An outsiders chance of creating an upset in the title race, a team many have predicted will have huge sway in where the league goes. A team labelled by many the best in the country.

Celtic. The current champions, A team on the up since the return of MON, however some damp performances of late gave us some hope of repeating the feat of a rare win against the green half of Glasgow, after our last encounter ended in a 2-0 victory for the good guys.

The Line-ups

Celtic lined up in a 4-2-3-1, matching the Well man for man. Celtic had a very well known injury situation running throughout the side, with eyes in particular on the backline and midfield. Sinisalo retained the starting berth in between the sticks. The back 4 consisted of Colby Donovan, Benjamin Arthur, Liam Scales and a retunring Kieran Tierney. The 2 holding midfielders were Alex Oxlaide-Chamerblain and Reo Hatate, with the 3 attacking minded midfielders being Yang Hyun-Jun, Benjamin Nygren and Sebastien Tounetki, with Daizen Maeda the lone striker.

As for the Well, the only selection issue was the unavailable Stephen Welsh, ineligible for the game against his parent club. Callum Ward remained in net, with Tom Sparrow drafted in to replace Welsh. Sparrow moved to right back, as Stephen O'Donnell moved into the vacant CB space, playing alongside Paul McGinn. Emmanuel Longelo completed the back 4. The rest of the side? unchanged. Lukas Fadinger, Elliot Watt, Ibrahim Said, Elijah Just, Callum Slattery and Tawanda Maswanhise completed the starting XI.

The well saw the returning Aston Oxborough added to the bench, replacing the injured Matty Connolly, and a surprise inclusion for us all was Andy Halliday making the matchday squad.

The Game

What followed ultimately was a bit of a damp squib of a game. Neither side really grabbed the initiative and took the game to the other. Lots of scrappy play, with no real clear cut chances falling either way.

Make no mistake, a 3-1 victory flatters from the outset. However, that is what happens when you play a side of Celtics size and quality, and gift them chances. In the end, 3 mistakes cost the boys in C+A.

A misplaced pass at the back, after solid defensive work to retrieve it. Something i heard a lot of fans bemoan at the time, as this goal had eery similarities to the last game at Parkhead, where, again, we lost a lead.

A mistake from Emmanuel Longelo giving Celtic a penalty, as well as seeing us a man down as he headed down the tunnel following a red card. Now, before we dissect this red card; It is a red card, and a penalty. A good ol DOGSO red. However, and this needs to be read not as bitterness or rage etc, these kind of fouls/grappling are things you see every week, in every game, at every level. Some are given, some are not. We got unlucky on this occasion, but that lack of consistency is, well, infuriating.

And the third, a defensive misjudgement as a long ball from the Celtic keeper soared over the defence, finding Yang who smashed the ball beyond Callum Ward.

And we can sit and complain about refereeing decisions not going our way. Trying to view things without a Motherwell lens, Maeda's elbow and subsequent interactions with Said certainly warrant at the very least a look from the ref. Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain can count himself very fortunate he didn't see red also.

And should the well have received a penalty? On one hand, we've certainly seen those given. A 2 handed shove in the back of an attacker inside the penalty area, certainly warrants it. On the other, a very theatrical fall from Tawanda probably puts into the refs mind it wasn't "enough" for a penalty. Which then boils into another argument of penalties, where, we've been lead to believe, any contact in the box can be given as a pen. However, unless players go down, there doesn't seem to be a thought of a foul, nevermind a pen. So there are numerous arguments, points to make, things to highlight in this game that we as Well fans can feel aggrieved about and think could have cost us the game.

But ultimately we simply weren't good enough on the day. This is the first match in a long time where we've left with 0 points where I've felt that was a fair return for the performance.. If we'd have got a point, I might've been saying it felt like we've robbed a point from Parkhead. But, on the day, we simply weren't up to scratch.

The stats

Another game, another Motherwell dominating possession. Shots were a fairly even affair also (13 from Celtic to Motherwell's 12), with the shots on target a different story (6 to 3). What is immensely frustrating is a game where we had more of the ball, more passes and a higher passing accuracy, we had less touches in the opposition box. Celtic had the answer to our play on the whole, and only once did we manage to get in, and in a game full of eery similarities, our goal was another, as we pinched the ball just outside their box, very much like our second goal against them at Fir Park.

Celtic did command a far higher xG to Motherwell, though this isn't overly surprising. The penalty, and the positions of Yang for his two goals, would naturally result in a high xG. Motherwell's 0.69 is a little disappointing, but after Longelo's red card, attacking output is extremely difficult to sustain.

Motherwell's attention now turns to Hibs at home on the 21st March.