SPL: Celtic take three points at Motherwell

Motherwell 1, Celtic 2 (full-time)

Lubo Moravcik added another wonder goal to his collection to give Celtic the lead at managerless Motherwell.

And Bhoys legend Henrik Larsson made it two in the dying minutes with a converted spot kick.

The home side made a positive start and could have been in trouble in the third minute when Hartson headed Scott Leitch’s cross away and Keith Lasley blazed high over the bar.

But Celtic came into the game more and Moravcik found Stilian Petrov in a shooting position, but his right-footed effort lacked the power to beat Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Brown.

The Glasgow side, however, almost carved out the opening in the 12th minute after some good work down the right by Hartson.

The Welsh striker made a run for Sylla and chipped the ball up invitingly for Henrik Larsson at the back post, but headed over after outjumping Karl Ready.

Motherwell broke down the other end and Guppy had to clear Stuart Elliott’s dangerous cross after outfoxing Bobo Balde.

But the champions grabbed the lead in glorious fashion after 13 minutes through their mercurial Slovakian.

Stephen Pearson brought down Petrov and despite being all of 35 yards from goal, Moravcik curled home a stunning right-footed effort, off the underside of the bar, which left Brown rooted to the spot.

The visitors had Neil Lennon booked in the 21st minute for a late challenge on Lasley as Motherwell tried to hit back quickly.

But it was Celtic who came close to doubling their lead four minutes later with Hartson involved again.

He spotted the run of Larsson and played him through, but after cutting inside Eddie Forrest and Ready his right-footed shot was pushed away by Brown.

A minute later and Strong had to make a vital tackle to stop Larsson getting away before Balde rose unmarked in the area to head Moravcik’s corner over the crossbar.

Motherwell did look dangerous on the break and Robert Douglas had to save Lasley’s shot on the half-hour.

Sylla became the second Celtic man to be shown a yellow card in the 38th minute for a trip on Elliott and the lively Lasley drove an ambitious right-foot effort over the bar.

But Celtic were presented with a shooting opportunity from an almost identical position to the one that Moravcik scored from after Forrest was booked for a foul on Larsson, but Petrov’s shot was blocked by the wall.

A few bad challenges soon followed and Well keeper Brown had to save a header from Hartson from Petrov’s free-kick.

But Celtic looked determined to kill the game off as quickly as possible after the break and they certainly had the chances to.

Hartson took a quick free-kick to Petrov, who played Larsson through, but Brown was quick off his line to deny him and Guppy’s corner was allowed to fly across the face of goal.

But Moravcik was clearly relishing his return to the side and in the 48th minute he had the chance to swing a free-kick into the box from the corner flag, but instead chose to go for goal which Brown had to push over.

Motherwell, however, refused to lie down and Douglas had to be alert to save from Pearson after Lasley’s throughball.

Pearson was booked for a bad foul on Sylla before Strong’s looping header was tipped over the bar by the Celtic keeper.

But the home side were screaming for a penalty in the 58th minute when Lasley went down under the challenge of Lennon, but referee John Rowbotham waved away protests.

Celtic boss O’Neill was clearly unhappy with the Motherwell player and both benches exchanged words as the game threatened to turn ugly.

The visitors started to look nervous at the back as their opponents came pouring forward in search of the equaliser.

And their persistence was rewarded in the 68th minute when Steven Hammell’s corner was only half-cleared and Strong seized on the ball to fire home past the despairing dive of Douglas.

The sides looked like they were going to share the spoils until the last minute of normal time when Henrik Larsson converted the spot kick.