Celtic made light work of Motherwell at Fir Park, as they ran out 3-0 winners in North Lanarkshire yesterday.

Indeed, goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah would separate the two sides, as Brendan Rodgers’ side moved level again with Aberdeen, following their 1-0 win versus Dundee United on Saturday night.

It was not all plain sailing at the beginning of the match, as Motherwell’s promising young talent Lennon Miller hit both the post and the crossbar in the opening 10 minutes. However, McCowan would open the scoring, before Johnston and Idah both added to Celtic’s tally after the restart, as the visitors won comfortably on their travels.

Motherwell’s day went from bad to worse right at the end, as Liam Gordon’s studs-up challenge on Idah was upgraded to a red card following VAR’s intervention – time will tell if the striker will miss any game-time due to this reckless lunge.

Using StatsBomb data and analytics, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay brings you a match report unlike any other…

Key stats + race chart

Unlike midweek in Italy, Celtic were an attacking force throughout this contest, which is shown in the attacking numbers. Indeed, 21 shots with nine on target makes for far better reading, though again you could point to a need for Celtic to be more clinical in front of goal. With 807 attempted passes (710 completed), 76 per cent pass completion and three goals scored, it was a good day at the office, especially away from home at a tough venue.

Observing the race chart from Sunday’s match, it outlines a pretty even game concerning chances until the second goal, which then sees the visitors pull away from Motherwell with chances created. By the time Idah’s goal hit the back of the net, Celtic were by far the more dominant attacking side.

Celtic were calculated as having a 64 per cent win probability with the chances made, while a draw was measured as a 26 per cent possibility. Stuart Kettlewell’s side were given a 10 per cent chance of coming out on top in this one, according to StatsBomb.

Formation + passing

Celtic lined up in their typical 4-3-3 formation, though there were a few changes made from Wednesday’s 0-0 draw in Atalanta. Kasper Schmeichel remained in between the sticks for Rodgers’ side, supported in defence by Liam Scales and Auston Trusty – Cameron Carter-Vickers made the bench. It was the same story for Greg Taylor, as he watched from the dugout due to Alex Valle starting again, with Johnston operating on the right-hand side as a stand-in captain. Speaking of the captain, Callum McGregor pulled out due to injury, so Paulo Bernardo took his place in the base of midfield, joined by McCowan and Reo Hatate in the advanced areas of the engine room. Idah led the line, while Daizen Maeda and James Forrest occupied each wing.

Taking a look at the passing network, which takes into account OBV (on-ball value), two of Celtic’s defenders had tremendous games concerning using and distributing the ball in the collective shapes of Trusty and Valle. Scales and Forrest also had a positive game concerning this metric, though the midfield and attack were lacking – this is shown in Kyogo’s isolated position at the top of the graphic.

Looking at actual OBV numbers, Valle had the highest total of 0.34 for 67 passes, while Trusty’s 146 distributions to his teammates landed him with a score of 0.26. As a side-note, Miller for Motherwell managed a score of 0.60 in just 23 passes – Celtic may need to keep tabs on this young talent.

The wide areas provided good numbers concerning key passes, as Forrest, Valle and Nicolas Kuhn all managed three on the day. Bernardo contributed two, while late substitute Luis Palma had one to his name.

Shooting

It was always going to be the case in this game due to the opposition, but Celtic put on a much better offensive display than the attacking non-event in Bergamo. This is illustrated in the shot map, as the visitors to Fir Park tried their luck from both long-range and close-up in this contest, with two goals coming at point-blank vicinity.

McCowan’s opener came from just outside the penalty area, as he picked up his second goal for his boyhood club in his first start since moving from Dundee on Deadline Day. After an unfortunate touch from Kofi Balmer following positive movement from McCowan, the midfielder slotted a well-weighted shot past Aston Oxborough in the Motherwell net. 

A difficult shot because of Gordon’s positioning as well as the goalkeeper being set, 0.12 xG rose to 0.65 in PSxG, underlining the quality of McCowan’s strike at goal – a well-taken finish from the 26-year-old.

Celtic would double their lead a little over 10 minutes following the restart, as the side’s full-backs would combine in the best possible way. With a Taylor-esque cross into the box, Valle found his opposite in the area, with Johnston meeting the ball perfectly with his head to guide it into the back of the net. 

After the game, Johnston said it would have been “easier to miss”, though he is doing himself a disservice here because of the underlying numbers surrounding this goal. A difficult chance at 0.11 xG, it rose significantly to 0.83 following the defender’s contact with the ball. Long story short, he made this chance look easy, though it was anything but.

Now for the anomaly in the game, which concerns Idah’s goal at the death to make it 3-0. Kuhn drove forward before crossing the ball low into the Motherwell box, which was skilfully dispatched by the Irishman. 

When observing xG and PSxG, it makes for interesting reading, as 0.26 decreased to 0.10 following Idah’s contact with the ball, which may be down to hitting the strike straight at Oxborough. Regardless, it went through the keeper and into the back of the net – Idah will not be complaining about xG after netting his fifth goal in all competitions this campaign.

Hatate was Celtic’s top shooter on the day with five – how he never got on the scoresheet is a mystery. Kyogo had four shots, as did McCowan, while Idah had two. Palma contributed one, as he squandered the chance to score for the third straight game at Fir Park for Celtic late on.

Defending

As was somewhat expected, Motherwell outpressured Celtic due to having less possession in the game by 144-91, also regaining the ball thanks to pressures at a rate of 27-18. McCowan, Maeda, Johnston and Scales all tied for first in this metric for the club with nine, while Hatate and Forrest had eight, who also had five counterpressures. McCowan managed four of his own in this stat.

Despite playing deeper for the first time as a Celtic player, Bernardo showed up on the defensive side of proceedings with five tackles and interceptions combined in this game. Maeda managed four interceptions of his own – to be expected from the Japan international. In another dominating performance from Scales, he contributed five clearances and eight aerial duel wins – a win percentage of 73 – as Trusty won three of his own battles in the sky. 

Final thoughts

After an encouraging defensive performance in the Champions League versus Atalanta in midweek, it was encouraging to see Celtic show off their attacking prowess when returning to their domestic duties at the weekend.

Though it was not a perfect performance – better teams would have punished Celtic’s mistakes, admittedly – Rodgers’ side were in control for the vast majority of proceedings in North Lanarkshire. With a quick turnaround of three days for the home match versus Dundee, more rotation may be required, especially with the League Cup semi-final at the weekend.

Overall, a positive showing from the champions, at a ground that has caused Celtic problems in the recent past. Onto the next one.