TOWARDS the end of this relatively workaday victory for their team over Motherwell, the Celtic fans offered up a song in praise of Wim Jansen. The Dutchman was back in Glasgow for the match - his distinctive curls made him easy to pick out in a crowd – and he remains a feted figure among the supporters despite spending only a solitary season as manager. His popularity is based on two notable achievements: signing Henrik Larsson, and stopping Rangers from completing 10-in-a-row.
How times have changed, Jansen must have thought to himself as he settled into his seat in the main stand. If his remit back in 1997 had been to put a dent in Rangers’ extended period of domestic dominance, then the shoe is most definitely on the other foot for his successor, Brendan Rodgers. With the Ibrox club no longer viewed as a serious threat in their current state, Rodgers’ Celtic continue to underline their superiority with every passing week.
This was far from their most fluent performance of the season but a first-half penalty from Moussa Dembele, his 27th goal of a stellar campaign, and a fine finish from James Forrest later in the same period were enough to see off a Motherwell side still smarting from their 7-2 thrashing from Aberdeen earlier in the week.
The numbers continue to stack up for Celtic. They are now unbeaten in 31 domestic games, have won their last 25 on that run, and regained a 27-point advantage at the top of the Premiership ahead of Aberdeen’s match against Kilmarnock this afternoon. In the league, this was a 20th consecutive victory since their solitary draw of the season away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in September, with the record of 25 wins in a row set by Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side in 2003/04 now in their sights.
With 13 league matches left to play, Motherwell manager Mark McGhee would not be surprised if Celtic were to go through the remainder of the campaign without a blemish on the record.
“Yeah, I could [see them going through the season unbeaten],” he said, while confirming that former assistant manager Steve Robinson would be re-joining the Motherwell coaching staff. “Although if Aberdeen can play as well as they did against us the other night then they will give Celtic a good game.”
The only thing to displease Rodgers, then, was the state of the Parkhead pitch. Compared with some others in Scottish football the surface did not look all that bad to the naked eye, but the manager has already made a request for a new hybrid field to be laid in the close season.
“Our players have to deal with a real difficult pitch,” he said. “Technically they’re having to make sure they take a touch before they get it under control, they can’t play first time. It is [a concern] for me. When we’re trying to entertain supporters and play a level of game, the pitch is vital. It’s an old pitch here, so we need to modernise the field. We actually go away to some grounds and play better because the pitch is better. This here slows us down. We need a Desso pitch [a hybrid surface of grass and artificial fibres].”
Despite those concerns, this was another solid if unspectacular victory for Celtic. They toiled initially to break down a Motherwell defence who put up strong resistance for the opening half-hour despite losing key figures Steven Hammell and then Stephen McManus to injury, but once Celtic made the breakthough, the outcome was all but settled.
The opening goal stemmed from a penalty won by Dembele – Zak Jules, McManus’ fifth-minute replacement, brought him unceremoniously to the ground – and then stroked in by the Frenchman for his seventh goal in three games. Those who had backed him at 9/1 to notch a third consecutive hat-trick temporarily got their hopes up but, beyond a second-half shot that swerved off-target, Dembele did not have many more opportunities to add to his tally.
He did, however, claim an assist for Celtic’s second goal after 41 minutes. His pass sent Forrest clear, the winger turning Joe Chalmers – a late addition to the Motherwell starting line-up after Hammell pulled up in the warm-up – before firing a shot beyond Craig Samson and into the far corner of the net.
Motherwell will perhaps wonder what might have been had Stephen Pearson been able to beat Craig Gordon from close range with the score still at 1-0, although Celtic could also point towards second-half chances spurned by Scott Sinclair and Scott Brown to suggest the margin of victory ought to have been even greater.
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