Celtic two wins from title despite Motherwell draw

Celtic suffered a minor bump in their pursuit of back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles as they dropped points at home for the first time in almost a year in a draw with Motherwell.

But the runaway league leaders were never at their free-flowing best and Kevin van Veen’s 24th goal of the season levelled the game after the break and earned a point for the Fir Park club.

The draw stretches Celtic’s lead at the top to 13 points, but victory for Rangers at Aberdeen on Sunday will cut that gap to 10 with five games to play.

That means Postecoglou’s men need just two wins from their post-split fixtures to clinch successive Premiership titles.

Motherwell, meanwhile, continue their impressive form under Stuart Kettlewell and they remain eighth.

Kettlewell’s men travelled to Glasgow’s east end with a 15-game losing streak against their hosts hanging over them, but Saturday’s result ended that wretched run.

Again, they had Van Veen to thank after the Dutchman carried the ball from just beyond halfway before finishing superbly past Joe Hart into the far corner.

Had the striker managed to beat Hart from a similar angle in the first half, the visitors would have taken the lead within the first minute.

Aside from that, Motherwell’s impressive work came in their defending. Celtic needed a deflected effort from McGregor to beat Liam Kelly, who pulled off a number of smart stops throughout the 90 minutes.

The first of those came from a diving Daizen Maeda header in the first half with the game goalless. After the break, the visitors’ captain was sharp off his line to get a strong hand to Kyogo Furuhashi’s dinked finish with the score at 1-1.

As expected, Celtic ramped up the pressure as the game progressed, but Hyeon-gyu Oh and Carl Starfelt both failed to direct close-range headers on target late on.

It all added up to a frustrating day for Postecoglou, but a second title in his second season in Scotland still very much looks inevitable with just six points from a possible 15 required.

Player of the match – Kevin van Veen

Postecoglou won’t allow complacency – analysis

It is hard to be too critical of a team who have now racked up a remarkable 92 points from a possible 99 on offer this term.

Bumps in the road are inevitable, but Postecoglou will be keen to ensure complacency doesn’t creep into his players’ mindset, especially with an Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final to come next Sunday.

A repeat of Saturday’s performance at Hampden could end Celtic’s hopes of a treble, but Postecoglou’s men are still well on course for the title and may well smash club records in the process.

Five wins from their final five league games would beat the club’s record points haul of 106, while they are also on course to score 119 league goals, which would beat the current record of 116.

Until Saturday, Celtic hadn’t dropped points at home since a draw against Rangers in May last year. To become the first team to take anything away from the east end of Glasgow in almost 12 months is a mightily impressive feat.

The Fir Park club have lost just twice from nine games under the stewardship of Kettlewell and now look good to secure their top-flight status after the split.

There is still work to do, but with a six-point advantage and a superior goal difference than 10th-placed Dundee United and 11th-placed Kilmarnock, you have to imagine one win will be more than enough.

What did they say?

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: “First half was OK. We controlled the game really well, got our goal and had opportunities to get another.

“Then we conceded a really poor goal and that gives them something to hold on to. We had chances to go on and win it but there was desperation around our play. We lacked that composure in the box.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: “To be the only team to pick up a point at Celtic Park this season is huge testament to our effort.

“It tells me what I already knew, that we have some excellent players in the group. It’s having that togetherness and unity in what we do. That’s the bit that pleases me most.”

What’s next?

Celtic are at Hampden next Sunday (13:30 BST) as they look to book a Scottish Cup final place by beating Rangers.

Motherwell will return to action the following weekend in their opening post-split fixture, with their first bottom-six opponent expected to be confirmed early next week.