Hartson hat-trick gives Celtic the edge

HT: Motherwell 1 Celtic 3

A hat-trick from John Hartson put Celtic halfway towards a face-saving victory for manager Gordon Strachan.

Two headed goals and a penalty gave the Hoops a 3-1 lead but Well had made life difficult for the visitors and had netted the goal of the half, a fine move that saw Brian Kerr beat David Marshall.

Kerr fired in a low drive that took a deflection but David Marshall was behind it.

There was another scare for Well from a corner when Hartson was allowed to fire in a shot but Stephen Craigan was in the way to block and then clear.

However the Welshman made no mistake from the next one, in the 32nd minute, when Thompson set up McGeady for a cross from the left for Hartson to get in front of his marker and head goalwards. It was well placed but from outside the six-yard box and Gordon Marshall, Well’s 41-year-old goalkeeper, seemed to take an age to react and arrived too late at his left-hand post.

Craigan was booked in the 35th minute for bringing Petrov down after Hammell had carelessly given away possession.

McGeady was on the end of the free-kick into the box but the ball just bobbled away from him before he could think of shooting.

Varga was booked in the 37th minute for hacking Phil O’Donnell down and the free-kick into the box was dealt with eventually despite a mis-kick by McGeady.

At the other end Maloney pinged a long-range free-kick just wide with the veteran Marshall again scrambling desperately across his line.

The elder Marshall’s day took another turn for the worse in the 43rd minute when he brought down Petrov for a penalty after Maloney had freed the Bulgarian with an astute pass.

Hartson drilled in the spot-kick.