Motherwell 1-3 Celtic: Champions leave it late for Fir Park victory
- Published
Adam Idah heads in the Celtic equaliser early in the second half
Celtic scored twice in stoppage time as a comeback victory at Motherwell moved them back to two points behind Rangers in the Premiership title race.
Adam Idah completed a double on 94 minutes, adding to his smart header at the start of the second half.
Fellow substitute Luis Palma added a tap-in while the visiting fans were still celebrating that late reprieve.
Blair Spittal had curled in a fantastic shot at the end of a first half the hosts had much the better of.
The champions, who had drawn two of their three previous league outings, looked spooked during that period but found some much-needed urgency to dominate the second half.
And Idah was the hero, replacing Kyogo Furuhashi at the interval and giving Celtic a real presence up front.
The on-loan Norwich striker levelled the game when rising well to steer in a Greg Taylor cross.
Both he and Daizen Maeda went close with further headers as the champions laid siege to the home penalty area and that pressure finally paid when the 23-year-old met an Alistair Johnston pass to slot low into the corner.
Yang Hyun-Jun, who also helped liven up Celtic from the bench, then teed up Palma for the simplest of finishes.
Motherwell who remain ninth, four points ahead of Ross County in the play-off place, were running on fumes in the closing stages, dealing with an onslaught.
The home side played with confidence in the first half, epitomised by the lovely footwork from teenager Lennon Miller to set up Spittal's cracking finish from the edge of the penalty area.
Theo Bair had an early effort ruled out for offside and Miller was denied by a good Joe Hart save at 1-1 as they found gaps in a Celtic backline that has gone four matches without a clean sheet.
Celtic use wings more wisely to gain upper hand - analysis
On their previous visit to Fir Park, Celtic found a 97th-minute winner. That goal from Matt O'Riley moved them seven points clear of Rangers after seven games.
Now the champions are playing catch up, having lost just twice all season. Draws have been costly as the Ibrox team have rattled off eight league wins in a row.
Midway through the six minutes added on it appeared another share of the points was on the cards for Brendan Rodgers' side but a change of attitude and approach eventually swung the match in their favour.
While they were sluggish in the first half, the tempo increased markedly and the Idah change was not the only telling substitution.
Yang was much livelier than Nicolas Kuhn, while Maeda upped his level as Celtic worked the wings much more effectively in the second half.
Motherwell competed commendably but were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of crosses coming in.
Player of the match - Adam Idah (Celtic)
The substitute bagged two vital goals and went close to a third in an excellent second-half showing
What they said
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "We had to show our mentality and belief as a team and that's what we said at half-time. We ran out deserved winners in the second half.
"The key thing for us is to stay together. There's a story being written about this club, but we will write our own story."
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "For 94 minutes I thought we were bang at it. The narrative will be that Celtic have come and turned us over but that's anything but what I saw in the game.
"I think we possibly could have been further ahead in the first half. We came up short with our concentration yet again."
What next?
Both sides are in action on Wednesday evening, with Celtic at home to Dundee (19:45 GMT) and Motherwell away to bottom side Livingston (20:00).