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Celtic lost their first domestic goal in 2019 against Motherwell with a strike shrouded in controversy.

Leading 2-0 and extremely comfortable, Celtic suffered a setback when Ryan Christie went down injured and had to be replaced.

While Jack Hendry prepared to replace the midfielder, Celtic knocked the ball out of play to allow Christie treatment.

Instead of giving the ball back to Celtic, as has become the norm in Football after an injury, Motherwell attacked Celtic’s goal.

As Celtic raced back to defend, Motherwell carried on and took full advantage of Celtic being switched off.

It ended a run of eight straight domestic clean sheets for Celtic. It also ended a run of clean sheets for Scott Bain that stretched back to August.

Although it may have been cheap, and shrouded in controversy, there was nothing wrong with Motherwell’s goal.

Celtic simply should have played to the whistle. It is against the sportsmanship nature of the game, but nothing in the laws prevents it from happening.

Although it was the first goal they’ve conceded in 2019 domestically, it was the best thing that could have happened to this Celtic team.

Anything that refocuses Celtic and keeps their foot on the throttle domestically can only be a good thing.

They were never going to get anything handed to them in their hunt for a treble treble.

Now, with the realisation that teams may even take cheap shots at them, they must remain vigilant until the end of the season.

Celtic’s response to Motherwell’s ‘goal’ was to fire in two in reply. After an initial shaky five minute spell, Celtic regrouped and saw out the game comfortably.

It is that response that will be required throughout the rest of the season. The foot can never come off the pedal for Celtic, we will get punished otherwise.

No let up, Celtic

While Brendan Rodgers has always wanted his players to strive to play the correct way, incidents like the Motherwell goal can change a team’s mentality.

It is not a bad thing for this Celtic team to have a nasty streak within it.

It was unlikely that this team would flick the auto-pilot switch and cruse to eight-in-a-row.

However, Motherwell’s lack of sportsmanship today has reminded Celtic of the dangers if they do.