Mark McGhee’s excitement regarding his second coming as the Motherwell manager may have been offset by the identity of his first opposition. McGhee would have been forgiven cold sweats. The last time McGhee faced Celtic, when in charge of Aberdeen, he suffered the humiliation of a 9-0 defeat. It seemed a cruel twist of fate towards McGhee that the referee from that 2010 encounter, Alan Muir, took charge here.
Celtic were again dominant, only this time not nearly as ruthless. Those in green and white displayed a wholly compassionate touch. Motherwell’s first-half showing was as dismal as seems possible for a team supposedly looking to impress a new coach, let alone in front of their own supporters. From the moment Nadir Ciftci sent the visitors in front, 15 minutes into proceedings, the result was never in doubt.
McGhee will have been under few illusions about the magnitude of his task. He may not need reminding about the attitude towards him by sections of the Motherwell support, either, after he departed for Aberdeen in the summer of 2009. It was telling that no mention was made whatsoever over the public address system to the change in dugout personnel. New managers would routinely be afforded fanfare.
Celtic thereby take on the position at the league’s summit that they will not have relinquished by the business end of the campaign. They have been assisted for now by the unforeseen collapse of Aberdeen, who have displayed merely their latest signs of fragility when the recipients of expectation. Friday’s defeat for Aberdeen at Ross County was their fourth defeat in succession.
Celtic, conversely, have responded well to what looked a wounding defeat at Pittodrie.
Ronny Deila was pleased to see his Celtic side leapfrog Aberdeen before their trip to Molde in the Europa League on Thursday. “I am very happy that we are back where we want to be,” he said.
Deila said that defender Jozo Simunovic is set to return to training and could be in contention for the Molde game. Midfielders Stefan Johansen and James Forrest should be back from knocks that kept them out and Nir Bitton will be fit despite being substituted in the second-half. Delia said: “Simunovic will train fully from tomorrow, which is a positive thing. He has a chance (for Molde) but he has been out for a while so we will see what we are doing. Bitton is no problem. He wanted to play more. Johansen is back and Forrest I think is back.”
Deila had the luxury of leaving his main striker, Leigh Griffiths, among his substitutes for an hour at Motherwell as he nursed a calf problem. Ciftci endorsed that move with a cool finish after Connor Ripley could only bat a Kris Commons effort back into his path.
Celtic should have further endorsed their vast superiority by the break. Commons watched a free-kick rebound from the crossbar and Dedryck Boyata headed a glaring opportunity wide as Motherwell’s defence maintained a theme of hesitancy. So, too, did Muir as he failed to administer as much as a booking for a wild challenge by Stephen Pearson on Celtic’s Efe Ambrose.
The referee was again the centre of attention within 15 second-half minutes. Celtic had two legitimate penalty claims denied as Scott Brown was upended by Kieran Kennedy, before the same defender adopted something akin to basketball strategy inside his six-yard area. Both vehement shouts were waved away, with Motherwell’s glaring shortcomings suggesting this would make little difference to the outcome.
McGhee introduced Scott McDonald in a bid to offer at least some attacking impetus to the hosts’ play. The Australian’s most notable contribution came from crashing into Boyata, which earned him a yellow card.
With 90 minutes on the clock, the Celtic goalkeeper, Craig Gordon, was still to make a save and Commons should have settled things in the dying stages but shot straight at Ripley when played through by Boyata.
Perhaps Motherwell and McGhee will regard this as something of a moral victory; Celtic will not enjoy a more comfortable run-out for the rest of this season. Sometimes scorelines can tell the most blatant of lies.
