Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic extended their unbeaten run to 19 games as they came away with a comfortable win over a debuting Joe Efford and Motherwell.
Motherwell 0 – 4 Celtic
Celtic put on an attacking display as they romped to a win over Motherwell at Fir Park to keep them ahead of Rangers in the standings.
Cameron Carter-Vickers anchored the backline for the Hoops, completing 81 percent of his passes and winning four duels. On the other side, Joe Efford made his debut for the Steelmen in the second half, completing 60 percent of his passes and taking two shots.
The visitors were on the attack from the start and opened the scoring after 28 minutes when Liel Abada steered home a low cross from Reo Hatate on the left side.
Tom Rogic doubled Celtic’s lead just after the half-hour mark when Abada supplied him the ball to fire a shot from the edge of the area into the back of the net. The Australian added his second before halftime when Abada set him up again, this time sending a low cross from the right side for him to guide home.
Motherwell head coach Graham Alexander decided to shake things up in the second half with his team in a big hole. On came Efford to play his first game since completing a transfer from Waasland-Bevern in Belgium.
He came close to scoring his first goal for the host in the 52nd minute when he put a shot on target that Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart had to make a diving save to clear away from danger.
Despite Motherwell’s efforts to get back into the game, Celtic was too dominant as they went on to add a fourth goal in the 71st minute. Daizen Maeda would run onto a through ball from Matthew O’Riley to score a fortuitous goal as it deflected off Motherwell defender Bevis Mugabi and looped in the air before bouncing across the goal line.
Celtic sit atop of the Premiership standings with 60 points.
Notes
In other action in the Scottish Premiership, Christian Ramirez scored a goal for Aberdeen, but it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 2-1 loss to Livingston. New Livingston loan arrival Sebastian Soto didn’t suit up for the hosts.
Ian Harkes went the distance for Dundee United as they shared the spoils with St. Johnstone after a 0-0 draw.
Christopher Mueller started and played the full 90 for Hibernian as they fell in a 1-0 defeat to St. Mirren.
James Sands watched from the bench as Rangers blanked Hearts in a 5-0 win to remain a point behind Celtic in the standings.
Down in League Two, Brian Schwake recorded a shutout as Edinburgh City beat Stranraer by a 2-0 scoreline.
