Motherwell were beaten 2-0 by league leaders Celtic at Fir Park on Sunday afternoon, as the Steelmen suffered their fourth consecutive defeat.
Camilo Durán opened the scoring inside ten minutes, before Benjamin Nygren added a second midway through the second half.
Alfred Johansson made several changes to his starting line-up following the three consecutive defeats before the international break. Stephen O’Donnell was named in the starting XI for the first time this season, making his 230th appearance for the club. Dylan Levitt earned his first start for Motherwell since joining from Leyton Orient in the summer, while Willy Vogt was also restored to the team.
Jordan McGhee was named on the bench after picking up an injury during pre-season, while Jake Girdwood-Riech, Tawanda Maswanhise and Ibrahim Said all dropped out of the side that faced Dundee.
An early chance fell Well’s way when O’Donnell’s floated pass found Seb Palmer-Houlden advancing towards the corner of the six-yard box, only for Liam Scales to deny him a shot at goal. The Steelmen continued their promising start, with Palmer-Houlden outpacing Dane Murray before Scales came across to block the former Gillingham striker’s effort from the edge of the box.
It didn’t take long, however, for Celtic to put the home goal under sustained pressure, with their two wide men stretching Johansson’s back four.
The first real threat came after eight minutes and resulted in the opening goal.
Durán cut in from the right wing and, after Levitt had a chance to block his progress, the Colombian drove towards the middle of the box before firing a low shot from 20 yards inside Alex Paulsen’s left-hand post.
The Motherwell goalkeeper then endured a busy spell, palming away Kieran Tierney’s drive before Durán’s follow-up effort was cleared off the goal line.
Paulsen produced a remarkable save moments later when Mika Baur’s deflected shot looked destined for the net, only for the Motherwell stopper to stretch out a leg and divert the ball away. He then denied the German for a second time, beating away his angled drive as the Fir Park side struggled to contain Celtic’s relentless attacks.
After 25 minutes, a rare spell of sustained possession saw Lukas Fadinger get in behind the Celtic defence, forcing Viljami Sinisalo into his first save of the afternoon and earning Motherwell their first corner.
As half-time approached, the Steelmen enjoyed more possession in Celtic’s half, with Palmer-Houlden making his physical presence felt as he engaged in several tussles with the visitors’ backline.
As the Motherwell players headed for the dressing room, they could take some encouragement from the fact that, despite spending long periods under pressure, they were just one goal behind and still very much in the game.
However, the home goal was soon under siege again. Within minutes of the restart, Paulsen produced three smart saves to deny Baur, Donovan and Tierney, preventing Celtic from extending their lead.
In the 56th minute, Nygren thumped the ball off the crossbar, but two minutes later he found the net after some poor defending from the home side.
Tom Sparrow lost possession at the edge of Celtic’s box, allowing the visitors to break in numbers. O’Donnell might have done better defensively, but when the ball fell to Nygren, he lashed it high past Paulsen to put Martin O’Neill’s men firmly in the driving seat.
When Said replaced Vogt after 63 minutes, he injected some much-needed energy into the home side. Within minutes, his cutback found Palmer-Houlden at the edge of the six-yard box, but Sinisalo dived to smother his effort.
A deep cross from Joe Hodge then presented Sparrow with an opportunity to nod the ball back towards Palmer-Houlden, whose volley drifted wide of goal.
Paulsen remained the Steelmen’s standout performer, producing another flying save to palm Calum McGregor’s rising drive over the crossbar.
With 20 minutes remaining, Johansson introduced Jardell Kanga and Eythor Bjorgolfsson. The pair combined almost immediately, with the latter stabbing the ball over the bar.
Despite spending long spells on the back foot, the Steelmen continued to push for a goal that might have set up a nervous finish for the visitors.
Motherwell Team: Paulsen, Sparrow, O’Donnell, Moormann, Longelo, Hodge, Fadinger, Lowry, Levitt, Vogt, Palmer-Houlden.
Motherwell Subs: Connelly, Knight-Lebel, McGhee, Girdwood-Reich, Said, Booth, Kanga, Bjørgolfsson, Maswanhise.
