It wasn’t easy for Celtic, but very much needed after a difficult week.
Celtic headed into the Motherwell match on the back of losing to Braga on Thursday evening in the Europa League, so once again, morale was low.
Despite, at one point in the second half, Motherwell going ahead via a penalty, the champions of Scotland proved their worth during the latter stages of the match, including Daizen Maeda’s headed winner in stoppage time.
Whilst it was delight for Brendan Rodgers and his players, this surely would have frustrated Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou, but that wasn’t the case post-match.
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty ImagesJens Berthel Askou praises Celtic after Motherwell conceded a late winner
Askou was appointed Motherwell boss this season, so this is his first time coming up against Celtic, and he feels his players ‘showed up’ at Parkhead, without getting a result.
The Danish coach wanted to praise Celtic for ‘turning up the tempo’ after his own team scored their second, and ‘credit to them’ for earning the three points.
It was a classy response from the Wells’ coach because, usually, managers, especially after losing, can be frosty, but he was the complete opposite when speaking to BBC Radio Scotland.
“I think we showed up,” said Askou. “We tried to do it our way, and we gave it our best shot. It was a great shot. Unfortunately, it danced a little bit on the line and went the wrong way.
“That’s how it is when you meet and play the best teams. Then you need the little margins to go your way, which didn’t happen when you needed them.
“Also, I have to praise Celtic for turning up the tempo in a few sequences at the end. We know what they are capable of, and credit to them, but I can’t praise our players enough. I think we gave ourselves the opportunity to win, which not many teams do here.”
Celtic’s home form this season in numbers
That type of win was needed because Celtic have looked off colour for far too many games this season, not forgetting that they ended the previous campaign pretty poorly.
Perhaps that late winner, as well as Maeda getting on the scoresheet, will provide lift-off for the players when they return after the October international break.
Either way, there needs to be more energy, bite and life to Celtic’s play, especially on home soil.
Home games this season: 7Wins: 4Draws: 2Losses: 1Goals scored: 11Goals conceded: 5