Celtic sealed a 3-1 win to keep their ten-point advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership intact.
Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah added two of Celtic’s goals before returning Hoops hero Jota added a third at Fir Park which sparked emotional scenes from the winger and the travelling Bhoys support.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the win as the Hoops boss hailed Jota on his goal-scoring return to the Scottish Premiership.
The Hoops dominated Motherwell but it didn’t stop long-term critic Hugh Keevins from putting the boot into Celtic even before the full-time whistle blew at Fir Park.
The Kasper Schmeichel Celtic stat that Hugh Keevins ignored vs Motherwell
Keevins continually predicted a doomsday scenario when the score was sitting at 2-1 and said Celtic were in danger of throwing away two points if Motherwell equalised.
However, that was thrown out by Gordon Dalziel as he pointed out a simple stat about Kasper Schmeichel’s performance that seemed to be overlooked by Keevins throughout the game.
Dalziel said on Superscoreboard [42m 30s], “Hugh, I know what you’re saying about Celtic, and it’s because of the scoreline, but see if you analyse this game, Schmeichel has not had one thing to do in the second half.
“But you can’t… As much as you can say, well, they’ve not put Motherwell to bed…”
Keevins interrupted: “What I’m saying is the possibility, therefore, still exists that Motherwell will equalise.”
Dalziel wasn’t having any of it and replied, “Yeah, but Motherwell have got to try and get the ball into the box or produce something.
“Celtic have made sure that they’re not letting them do that. So, yeah, as much as we can say, oh, it should be three or four, this game should be well put to bed, but Schmeichel’s literally not had anything to do in the second half.”
Celtic’s solid stats vs Motherwell renders Hugh Keevins’ moans moot
Celtic were solid against Motherwell and apart from the home side’s goal, the Fir Park club never really offered much in the game.
So with that in mind, here are the stats from the BBC website that proved Celtic were never really in much danger at Motherwell:
- Possession: Celtic 81%
- Shots: Motherwell 2
- Shots on target: Motherwell 1
- Touches inside Celtic’s box: Motherwell 7
- Goalkeeper saves: Celtic 0
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