Motherwell 1-4 Celtic: Mohamed Elyounoussi hat-trick helps ease pressure

Mohamed Elyounoussi has scored 10 goals this season

Mohamed Elyounoussi’s hat-trick helped ease the pressure on himself and second-top Celtic as they brushed aside Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

The on-loan Southampton winger had been criticised for being caught on his phone after being substituted in the 4-1 Europa League loss to Sparta Prague.

But two early finishes steadied the ship and his third came after Well’s Declan Gallagher reduced the arrears.

Olivier Ntcham’s late strike ensured a comprehensive win.

Celtic had arrived at Fir Park having won only once in six games and with some fans calling for manager Neil Lennon to be sacked.

But they left with a seventh win in a row against their seventh-placed hosts, who have now not beaten Celtic in 19 meetings, and having narrowed the gap to six points behind Rangers, who host Hamilton Academical in Sunday’s later kick-off.

Celtic last failed to win three consecutive league games in November 2012 and a repeat would have added further pressure on Lennon and given Rangers even greater hope that they could prevent their city rivals a historic 10th league title in a row.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson talked confidently ahead of kick-off – and no wonder considering his side had won four of the previous five league games and were seeking a third consecutive victory.

However, they were immediately on the back foot after Liam Polworth hesitated under a Ryan Christie challenge, the ball broke to Albian Ajeti and, when the striker’s shot came off the far post, Elyounoussi was first to react and prod home.

Tom Rogic has also had his critics, but the Australia midfielder looked more like his old self as he thrust into the penalty box before setting up Elyounoussi for an easy finish.

Motherwell will argue that they ought to have been given the chance to level from the penalty spot before that second goal after visiting captain Scott Brown’s clumsy challenge felled striker Callum Lang.

While Ryan Christie and Jeremie Frimpong went close to extending Celtic’s lead, the home side will also point to goal-line stops from Diego Laxalt that denied Gallagher and Lang, who then blocked a goal-bound effort from team-mate Tony Watt.

Motherwell, though, were fortunate to finish with 11 men after striker Devante Cole escaped with a yellow card for a studs-first challenge that forced left-back Jeremie Frimpong off with a thigh injury.

As it was, Gallagher exposed Celtic’s recent set-piece frailty by rising above Nir Bitton to head home to spark a short but nervous four minutes for the visitors before Elyounoussi towered above Stephen O’Donnell to complete a hat-trick that goes some way to answering those who questioned his commitment in midweek.

Man of the match – Mohamed Elyounoussi Mohamed Elyounoussi’s clinical finishes delighted manager Neil Lennon What did we learn?

The gap in class between Celtic and their hosts showed in the end, but Lennon’s side were a penalty claim and a couple of narrow escapes in defence away from a nervous finish.

Lennon had dropped Shane Duffy, the on-loan Brighton & Hove Albin centre-half, along with striker Odsonne Edouard, who has still to recover fully from a bout of Covid-19, but defensively his side still looked vulnerable at the back and there is still room for improvement before the mini-crisis at Celtic Park subsides.

Especially so considering Motherwell’s manager Robinson has still to devise a game-plan capable of stopping Celtic scoring against his team.

Having started the day with the chance to move into fifth spot with victory, they end it having lost 25 goals in seven meetings with Celtic and with their recent revival coming to an abrupt and painful halt.

What did they say?

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: “I don’t think I’ve ever had as many chances against Celtic.

“We had a penalty appeal and two cleared off the line. There was a lot of good, positive stuff, but individual errors have cost us today. It’s a hard one to take, but if we play like that against other sides, I’m sure we will get results. Celtic had five chances and scored four, that’s the difference.”

Celtic manager Neil Lennon: “That was much better. We know that we let ourselves down on Thursday and we tried to iron out a few things in the last couple of days.”

What next?

Celtic face another tough test of their title credentials when they travel to Edinburgh to face fourth-top Hibernian after the international break before having a chance to avenge that Europa League defeat away to Sparta. Meanwhile, Motherwell visit Perth to take on a St Johnstone team one place behind them on goal difference.

Line-ups Motherwell

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Celtic

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