Celtic’s win over Motherwell was probably the best performance of the season from a Martin O’Neill side.
Despite Jens Berthel Askou’s side taking the lead, Celtic were in complete control in a game that O’Neill’s side completely dominated for much of the 90 minutes.
However, a double from Hyunjun Yang and a Tomas Cvancara penalty saw Celtic take a big win, and it was the spot kick and red card award that we asked Mark Clattenburg about after some confusion appeared to raise its head about the DOGSO [Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity] rule.
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Massive three points. Your instant thoughts…
Who impressed you for Celtic against Motherwell?
Clattenburg admits Celtic penalty call was ‘correct’ vs Motherwell
Not many people will argue the point about the penalty being awarded for Celtic after Daizen Maeda was bundled over in the box, but was the red card correct?
Clattenburg exclusively told 67 Hail Hail, “Celtic were awarded a penalty via VAR after Motherwell’s Emmanuel Longelo pulled back Daizen Maeda when he had a big chance to turn the ball into the net after a ball was played in from a corner.
“The decision was correct and as the offence of pulling is not a genuine attempt to play the ball, Longelo was also correctly dismissed from the field of play.”
With Jens Berthel Askou being very gracious about Celtic’s penalty, the Motherwell boss didn’t create any kind of fuss over a decision that was very clear cut.
Celtic edge closer to Hearts
Celtic now move to within two points of Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as Derek McInnes’ side kick-off at 8pm against Kilmarnock tonight.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 29 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 63 |
| 2 |  CelticCeltic | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 56 | 32 | 24 | 61 |
| 3 |  RangersRangers | 29 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 51 | 25 | 26 | 57 |
With Rangers now four points behind Celtic, Martin O’Neill’s win against Motherwell has put pressure on both title contenders this weekend.
Should Hearts or Rangers drop points, this could be a major turning point for Celtic in their defence of their league title.
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