Motherwell 0-2 Celtic: How the players rated in Scottish League Cup final
- Published
Celtic won their fourth consecutive domestic trophy as they overcame Motherwell to win the Scottish League Cup on Sunday.
James Forrest and Moussa Dembele scored the second-half goals as Brendan Rodgers' side beat 10-man Motherwell 2-0 at Hampden.
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson was angry at the award of the penalty that Dembele converted, with Cedric Kipre sent off for his challenge on Scott Sinclair.
Celtic manager Rodgers remains undefeated in domestic competition, and has now matched the feat of Jock Stein by winning four trophies in a row.
Here, former Scotland captain Willie Miller, who won three League Cups with Aberdeen, assesses the performances of the players at the national stadium.
Motherwell
Trevor Carson (goalkeeper) 8
Did well throughout, particularly when they went down to 10 men and Celtic were pretty rampant. Even when his captain tried to put one by him, he managed to save that. Probably one of Motherwell's more important players.
Cedric Kipre (centre-back) 5
Was lucky to get away with a very strong challenge on Dembele in the first half. He got himself the wrong side of Sinclair for the goal, leading to his sending off. The manager can complain all he wants but there was contact and referee had to make a decision. He's a young player and hopefully he learns from his mistakes.
Peter Hartley (centre-back) 7
Strong in the air and restricted Dembele, Found the second half really difficult because Motherwell were a bit over-run, but it was certainly a commanding performance.
Charles Dunne (centre-back) 5
James Forrest had the better of him on a number of occasions, and took him on for the opening goal as well.
Richard Tait (right wing back) 8
This was as good as I've seen him play, strong in defence and he coped well with the threat down that side through Sinclair and Tierney.
Liam Grimshaw (centre midfield) 6
A hard worker in the middle of the park but didn't do a great deal on the ball. Motherwell's midfield wasn't the best.
Chris Cadden (centre midfield) 6
I don't know what Chris was supposed to be doing. Motherwell missed his crosses from the wide area. He was playing round about Scott Brown's area, maybe having to close him down, but Brown ran the show. He was playing out of position.
Carl McHugh (centre midfield) 7
Again it was that midfield area where defensively I thought Motherwell were ok but they weren't great creatively. I still thought he put in a captain's performance.
Andy Rose (left wing back) 6
Again I didn't think the midfielder was effective going forward but was good defensively.
Ryan Bowman (striker) 6
Just a typical Bowman performance. He was physical, workman-like, not particularly effective. Was asked to do an awful lot of defensive work.
Louis Moult (striker) 8
He's always a threat and his header deserved a goal, but it was a magnificent save from Gordon. He had very little support and few crosses from out wide. They missed their width, Motherwell, so even he had very few opportunities.
Substitutes
Craig Tanner (replaced Grimshaw after 51 minutes) 6
When your team is under that amount of pressure, to try to be creative in the opposition half is almost impossible.
Allan Campbell (replaced Bowman after 64 minutes) 6
Showed good attitude but was over-enthusiastic at times and put in some late challenges.
Elliott Frear (replaced Rose after 69 minutes) 6
Pretty ineffective, swimming against the tide. He's a player that has talent but didn't have the opportunity to show it.
Celtic
Craig Gordon (goalkeeper) 8
His save from Moult is probably one of the most important saves that's he going to make. He didn't have a great deal to do otherwise, but for that save alone you've got to give him an 8.
Mikael Lustig (right back) 7
Always eager to get forward and combined well with Forrest. Use of the ball wasn't great, however.
Dedryck Boyata (centre-back) 8
Was up for the physical challenge of the Motherwell front two and handled that well.
Jozo Simunovic (centre-back) 8
Had a very elegant game, and stepped into midfield at times which caused Motherwell a problem. Was always good defensively.
Kieran Tierney (left back) 7
I didn't think he was as influential as usual and didn't link that well with Sinclair. Can play much better and could have offered more in an attacking area because he had enough of the ball.
Stuart Armstrong (centre midfield) 7
Was his usual positive self whenever he got the ball. Elegant going forward, made a lot of good runs and was accurate in his passing.
Scott Brown (centre midfield) 8
Strolled through the game, even though it looked as though Motherwell were trying to close him down. It was the usual captain's performance, he was very influential.
Callum McGregor (centre midfield) 7
Influential in midfield, always willing to get forward, but at times the passing was not as accurate as it could have been.
James Forrest (right winger) 9
Man of the match, always looked the most threatening Celtic attacker. Maybe a wee bit disappointing in the first half with the quality of crossing, but scores the opening goal in the second half, taking it on his bad foot to curl it in.
Scott Sinclair (left winger) 7
Still looks as though he's trying to find his form. Had plenty of the ball but didn't do much with it. Tried to be over-elaborate.
Moussa Dembele (striker) 7
Not at his best to be honest. Kipre's tackle set him back and he lost his composure for a little bit, getting himself booked not long after. Converted the penalty well.
Substitutes
Leigh Griffiths (replaced Dembele after 64 minutes) 6
Should have scored when he was right through the middle one-on-one with the goalkeeper but hit the post.
Patrick Roberts (replaced Forrest after 77 minutes) 7
Had the beating of Dunne, with his talent and trickery. A wee bit unlucky not to get a goal, but had a big impact.
Tom Rogic (replaced McGregor after 88 minutes) 6
Had a good strike on goal, but it was just a cameo coming on with just a couple of minutes remaining.