which saved, not only the game, but possibly our season, that story may well turn out to be our finest in years. After weeks of toil and no little frustration, the second half of this Motherwell tussle re-wrote the script-Celtic are far from out of the Title race!
Having endured 45 minutes of pure torture, a couple of changes on the field changed everything, and who would have conceived that the removal of Kyogo would be the catalyst for an unlikely victory dance at the Celtic End? Not that the talismanic Japanese was poor, it was simply a need for a directional alteration in tactical terms. Furuhashi was isolated and frustrated-he was also injured!
That change in momentum came in the form of Irishman, Adam Idah, and Korean, Yang. Both substitutes brought both hope, and goals to a feverish Hoops support. The all-change, first half formation was clearly not working, and Motherwell, despite needing snookers in terms of possession, had all the chances bar one.
The retiring Joe Hart kept us in it, and our defence looked as solid as ice-cream and jelly as the nerves crept in time and again. We were lucky to survive an early goal when the rampaging, Bair made a foraging run behind Scales and deceived Hart.
Fortunately the big striker was half a yard offside, and we breathed again. Just. Kyogo had one strike on goal which the ‘keeper saved, and that was that for the Celtic attack in this innings.
When Blair Spittal curled in, finishing a brilliant team effort on the stroke of half-time, Deja-vu set in and I’m sure we all sensed imminent disaster for our Title hopes. Rodgers changed the tone with Idah replacing Kyogo who had seemingly injured his shoulder in a box tussle. The lone Samurai was getting bullied by big defenders and we needed something different. We got Idah.
A brilliant towering header into the corner from a pinpoint cross brought the Celtic fans to their feet and a renewed sense of ‘What if?’ ‘What if’ Brendan saw what we were seeing and dragged the serially-awful Kuhn from the pitch to be replaced by someone who could actually find a hooped shirt for once?
He did, and the much-maligned, Yang arrived to prove his worth, re-creating the mass hysteria of our last outing in Steelmen country. Celtic now began to play with fluency and confidence. O’Riley and McGregor were prompting and probing, unlocking doors which were previously closed, and the wingers looked lively and productive.
It all looked a little forlorn though as the minutes ticked down and the claret and amber wall appeared impenetrable. However, with 94 minutes on the clock, a brilliant move saw the rejuvenated Alistair Johnston slide-rule a pass across goal. The crowd held their collective breath before hero-of-the-hour Adam Idah picked the pockets of the home support and cooly slotted home to provoke unbridled delirium behind Kelly’s goal.
Yes, Celtic looked to have done it again with a last-gasp clincher and, as the seconds ticked down, the clever Idah toyed with the defence out near the corner flag to kill the game. When the ball broke forward, the ever-improving Yang went wide and his low cross found fellow-sub, Luis Palma with a delicious delivery, and the Honduran kept himself onside as he killed the game and won the points with a calm slot.
The celebrations were of the kind we have been pining for recently, and now, with only two points in it, the League Flag is still up for grabs. I’ve a feeling this resolve and show of character will kick into our final eleven matches, with two against our Glasgow rivals, and anything can happen.
Leave a Reply