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THIS time Celtic had the Motherwell players wishing they were elsewhere.
Neil Lennon could have no complaints about the Hoops’ performance in the Premiership.
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He mocked his team members for wanting to leave after last week’s Champions League loss to Ferencvaros.
Here was Steven Robinson at the end of the table, looking for the exit door long before the final whistle.
James Forrest, Albian Ajeti and Christopher Jullien all scored in an easy league win.
“ We were stubborn for most of the first half, but from the moment they fell behind just before half-time, it’s game over.
How they rated
CELTIC: Barkas 6, Elhamed 6, Jullien 7, Ajer 7, Taylor 6, Brown 6, McGregor 8, For rest 7, Ntcham 5, Elyounoussi 5, Christie 8
Subs: With air conditioning (Elyounoussi 45) 4, Frimpong (Taylor 62) 3, Ajeti (Ntcham 70) 5
MOTHERWELL: Carson 6, Grimshaw 6, Lamie 6, Mugabi 7, Gallagher 6, O’Donnell 5, Polworth 7, O’Hara 7, Campbell 7, Long 6, Watt 6
Subs: Long (Watt 59) 4, White (Lamie 69) 3, Hylton (length 88) one
They say that doing the same thing again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
And there will be Celtic fans who heard that Lennon had chosen the same team that lost to Ferencvaros and thought he was crazy.
But then things turned out differently this time.
And it is better for the Northern Irish that they have.
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He was leaving himself wide open to criticism when he decided to name another lineup without a player calling himself a forward.
That’s not a criticism of Ryan Christie, who is one of the most offensive players in the country. But he is not number 9 and that was clear once again during this match.
Christie did all of her best work outside of the penalty area, as she always does.
When full-backs Greg Taylor and Hatem Alhamed opened up and raised their heads for a target to hit between the posts, most of the time there wasn’t one.
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With their well-trained back, all five were relatively easy for Motherwell to defend.
Steve Robinson’s team had no problems in the first half, dealing with almost everything they had to face in the first 45 minutes.
But “almost” are the two important words in that sentence.
Because there was a moment, just five minutes before the break, when they got caught and Forrest threw Celtic into the lead.
The visitors were attacking themselves with bodies in the Celtic half when Stephen O’Donnell lost possession.
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Out of nowhere, Callum McGregor interrupted the play and lunged forward.
The midfielder really showed a nice turn to advance before sliding a pass to his right for Forrest.
Defender Liam Grimshaw probably could have done more to make contact with the Scotland winger and force him to open, to prevent him from shooting.
But It’s easier to say it than do it.
Sometimes you just have to give the attacker credit and Forrest did it brilliantly to find the net with his shot.
It clearly meant a lot to him as well, as he ran to the photographers to yell into his glasses.
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Was it tough on Motherwell and more than Celtic deserved? Yeah, you have to say it probably was.
Lennon’s team had most of the ball up to that point, unsurprisingly, ‘Well goalkeeper Trevor Carson barely had a save before the goal continued.
Celts No. 1 Vasilia Barkas didn’t have too much work on the other end, but Motherwell had a few shots and it wasn’t like they carried no threat in the final third.
It would have been a fairer reflection of the game if the teams had drawn at half-time.
We’ll never know, but Lennon probably wouldn’t have made any changes at halftime if the game was still stuck at 0-0.
But in the future he saw Patryk Klimala presented and the Polish striker gave him the opportunity he was waiting for.
Suddenly, Celtic had someone who was happy to loiter between the posts, with Christie free to go and ride as much as she wanted. And as a consequence, Celtic had a better balance on them.
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But Klimala didn’t exactly light up the game and he settled on a starting spot every week.
He missed an absolute babysitter from about three yards at the hour mark, after Greg Taylor hit the ball at a plate for him.
That came after another mistake by O’Donnell, who will have to play better than this for Scotland against Israel at Hampden on Friday night if he is picked by Steve Clarke.
However, the writing was on the wall for Motherwell.
NO CHANGES Neil Lennon backs Celtic’s failures by naming the same starting lineup that was scrapped in Europe
They offered next to nothing in the future during the last half hour with Celtic with no real danger of losing points.
The second goal ensured it.
Lennon threw on Ajeti in the 70th minute and was about to hit immediately after Kris Ajer found him free inside the area with a ball at his feet.
Ajeti had time to control the pass, turn and crash his shot high into the net. It was a top-notch finish from the hitman, but from Motherwell’s point of view, it was another abysmal goal to concede.
Klimala had a chance to make it 3-0 moments later when he ran with only Carson to win, but he was never confident enough to score with his shot blocked by the keeper’s legs.
The third goal came in injury time and came from an unlikely source.
Central defender Jullien, who tried his luck with an ambitious aerial kick earlier, stepped forward again and was chosen by Jeremie Frimpong.
Keeping his left-footed shot low, the ball found the bottom angle.
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