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Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Motherwell vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.

Fir ParkAttendance8,446.

Motherwell 0

    Celtic 2

    • J Neves Filipe (17th minute)
    • D Turnbull (52nd minute)

    Motherwell 0-2 Celtic: Jota and David Turnbull on target to give Hoops second straight win on the road

    Match report as Celtic beat Motherwell 2-0 to move fourth in the Scottish Premiership; Jota's first-half goal puts visitors in control before David Turnbull hits stunning long-range strike after the break on his return to Fir Park

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    Highlights of the Scottish Premiership clash between Motherwell and Celtic.

    David Turnbull struck a glorious goal on his first appearance back at Fir Park for Celtic as the visitors beat Motherwell 2-0.

    The midfielder showed why Celtic paid Motherwell £3m for his services in August last year when he sent a swerving 25-yard effort past a motionless Liam Kelly and into the top corner to put the visitors two ahead.

    Jota had scored a well-taken but controversial early opener, with the hosts unhappy with a decision not to award them a foul by referee Willie Collum, who went off injured during the first half.

    Celtic went on to win comfortably as they recorded back-to-back away victories after waiting eight months to win on the road in Scotland before their late triumph at Aberdeen before the international break.

    There was further cause for celebration for their travelling fans as Celtic reduced the deficit on cinch Premiership leaders Rangers to four points. Craig Halkett's late equaliser for Hearts at Ibrox was greeted by huge cheers from the Celtic support.

    How Ange Postecoglou's side made it two straight wins on the road

    Tom Rogic was restored to the Celtic midfield after coming off the bench to help get that elusive away win at Pittodrie and Boli Bolingoli started after Adam Montgomery missed out.

    Motherwell handed a surprise first start to former Rangers midfielder Sean Goss, who struggled to make any impact, and started with Kevin van Veen on the bench.

    Also See:

    Jota strikes to put  Celtic ahead at Motherwell
    Image: Jota strikes to put Celtic ahead

    Celtic faced some early concerns. Joe Hart got out of a difficult situation by dribbling past Jordan Roberts and Anthony Ralston cleared from in front of his goal after Tony Watt had got in behind.

    Turnbull shot wide from 25 yards with Motherwell outnumbered on the counter-attack before the opening goal came in the 17th minute after Kyogo Furuhashi tracked back to slide in on Callum Slattery. The Motherwell players expected a free-kick but Collum played on.

    Rogic played a pass inside Stephen O'Donnell for Jota to run on to and the on-loan Benfica winger slotted the ball inside Kelly's near post.

    Team news

    Motherwell

    Motherwell made two changes, bringing in Jordan Roberts and Sean Goss for first starts of the season.

    Celtic

    Two changes for Celtic, too, Tom Rogic starting in midfield and Boli Bolingoli coming in at the back. Nir Bitton and Adam Montgomery dropped out from the side which won at Aberdeen.

    Collum soon substituted himself off for fourth official Chris Fordyce after pulling up with an injury. The replacement referee was making his top-flight debut.

    Celtic cruised the rest of the half with Motherwell struggling to stop crosses or put their opponents under any pressure. Jota came close to a second when his volley bounced up and over the bar.

    The pattern of play did not change after the break. Furuhashi came close to converting Ralston's cross before Turnbull produced his moment of magic in the 52nd minute after receiving the ball just inside from the left flank. The 22-year-old made no moves to celebrate but was quickly engulfed by team-mates.

    Man of the match

    David Turnbull (Celtic)

    Showed the Motherwell fans what they are missing with a belting strike to settle the argument for good.

    Turnbull soon threatened again with a corner that was headed on by Furuhashi and ultimately hit the post before the midfielder forced a save from Kelly.

    Van Veen came on for Motherwell and appealed strongly for a penalty for handball from Bolingoli after flicking the ball in the air. Fordyce and his well-placed assistant were unconvinced.

    The Dutch striker headed wide after Nathan McGinley's cross was just too high for him to convert, but Celtic regained control.

    Their substitute striker, Giorgos Giakoumakis, had a couple of sniffs at goal but could not get a clean contact.

    GRAPHIC

    What the managers said...

    Motherwell boss Graham Alexander on the penalty incident: "It's a blatant penalty. I could tell by the reaction of the
    players. We are in the box, we are ready to get an opportunity to score and it's a blatant penalty, the lad has just slapped the ball away. But us getting a penalty against one of the big boys is quite rare.

    "At a really critical time of the game, it gives us a lifeline if we get the penalty, and with the atmosphere here and the way our team is, I think we give ourselves a chance of getting something from the game. It wasn't given to us.

    "All I can say is we don't get them. We should have had one a few weeks ago at Ibrox, we should have had one here against Aberdeen last year when it was blatant, their player made the best save of the game. We don't get them, simple as, and it's easy to give them against us. We have had three against us and we haven't had the penalties we should have.

    "I have only been up here nine months so I am still learning but I'm learning quickly that it's easy to give a penalty against us and it's very, very difficult to give one for us, from my relatively new experience here."

    Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou on closing the gap to Rangers to four points: "I thought the Premiership race was over, mate, so I'm not looking at the table. We are just kind of doing our own thing. It's of zero significance for us.

    "What is more important for us is that we get some belief out of today. It's one thing to get a victory here but to control a game here like we did can give us real belief moving forward.

    "I thought we were really in control and scored two good goals and created some chances, and Joe (Hart) didn't have a save to make. That's the most pleasing thing, that we controlled the game at a difficult place.

    "We have just got to keep our heads down and run our own race. When you do that and keep improving, we will see where we end up."

    What's next?

    Celtic go back to Parkhead for two successive home games, against Ferencvaros of Hungary in the Europa League on Tuesday and St Johnstone on Saturday, while Motherwell are on the road to Dundee United on Saturday.

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