What Jens Berthel Askou said about the Celtic penalty as Motherwell boss admits Parkhead ‘hurt’

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to Hearts to just two points after a fine 3-1 win over Motherwell.

Martin O’Neill watched as his Celtic side beat Motherwell after going behind once again as the Bhoys showed more grit and fight to beat arguably the best footballing side of the season.

However, for Jens Berthel Askou, the defeat was hard to take as the Motherwell boss shared his thoughts on the Celtic Park defeat and the penalty and red card his team got at such a crucial period of the game.

• READ MORE: Martin O’Neill is wrong, Rangers don’t deserve a Celtic Park allocation after Ibrox shame

Massive three points. Your instant thoughts…

Who impressed you for Celtic against Motherwell?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Jens Berthel Askou accepts Celtic penalty as Motherwell boss is gracious in defeat

The Motherwell boss was unhappy at the defeat as Askou admits the Celtic Park defeat ‘hurts’.

Askou told BBC Radio Scotland, “Of course it hurts. We hate losing, love winning and now we have got nothing out of the last two games even though we have put a lot in.

“The tempo was really high at times, some of the quality in the build-up was really good and our pressing was at times extremely good and it made them change their strategies.

“We got a goal from it and our bravery gave them some opportunities to punish us, which they were able to do.

“It could go both ways and I would have hoped it would not be that kind of moment or incident that tipped the game to one of the sides. I think it was a shame that [the penalty and red card] decided the game.

“It’s a penalty, which is a big chance, and a red card which makes it difficult to get back into the game and get a result.”

Celtic’s next three crucial fixtures before the split

Celtic now have three more games to go until the top-six split and the real business end of the season begins.

Now that the most difficult of fixtures are out of the way, Celtic’s next three fixtures should give O’Neill a great chance to close the gap, or even overtake, Hearts in the next few weeks.

A Tayside double-header as Celtic face both Dundee clubs will be a difficult task as will facing St Mirren who could have a new manager bounce by the time their visit to Paradise comes around.

With the games being ticked off, could O’Neill pull off what looked impossible after the Wilfried Nancy disaster and actually defend Celtic’s league title?