How dominant Celtic swept Motherwell aside to book semi-final spot in style

A double from Liel Abada, followed by strikes from Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi, eased the holders into the final four at the expense of the Steelmen. 

Ange Postecoglou shuffled his pack again for the trip to Fir Park, making five changes from the side that demolished Hibernian 6-1 at Celtic Park last weekend. 

Josip Juranovic, Greg Taylor, Abada and Kyogo came in for Ralston, Bernabei, Forrest and Giakoumakis, while Benjamin Siegrist was also offered the chance to impress in goal as Joe Hart dropped to the bench. 

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some key Wyscout data from the League Cup success in North Lanarkshire to give you a match report like no other.

xG dynamics 

The Bhoys dominated the early evening kick-off from start to finish, creating high-quality chances throughout the 90 minutes, as shown in the above xG dynamics graphic.

After a couple of early efforts from Sead Haksabanovic and Matt O’Riley, Kyogo had the first high-quality chance with a left-footed effort (0.65 xG) from inside the six-yard box that he pulled wide. 

Abada’s header (0.65 xG) following up from Kyogo’s strike off the underside of the bar from outside the box on 19 minutes was the next high-value opportunity of the first half. 

Haksabanovic and Kyogo then had further efforts as Celtic managed to accumulate an xG of two by the half-hour mark but without any reward. 

There then followed a lull before Abada arrived to finish off an incisive move involving Haksabanovic and Taylor to open the scoring just before half-time. The chance had an xG value of 0.72 and gave Celtic a half-time total of 2.76, as well as an important breakthrough. 

Kyogo had Celtic’s first effort on goal in the second half before several attempts in quick succession, first from Abada, then Juranovic led to Abada’s second of the game. A well-timed finish on the volley, it had the lowest xG of Celtic’s four goals on the night (0.28). 

The Hoops' next attempt was Reo Hatate’s cool finish (0.72 xG) after a brilliant piece of individual skill from the Japanese midfielder at the near post left Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly on his backside. 

Celtic’s final two efforts were Abada’s strike off the post and Kyogo’s follow up which made it four on 76 minutes. Abada’s initial effort had an xG value of 0.20 with the rebound from Kyogo carrying an xG value of 0.69. 

Celtic tallied 19 shots in the end with their total xG a very impressive 4.82, their highest of the season so far according to Wyscout. 

For Motherwell, Wyscout registered five shots at goal, which were mostly speculative efforts from range and only carried a total xG of 0.15. 

However, the data provider does not appear to have included McKinstry’s effort in the first half when he sliced wide after some poor defending by Mortiz Jenz. Perhaps, like the German centre-back, they thought the ball had gone out of play on the by-line.

Even compensating for the exclusion of that from the data, Motherwell did not create many opportunities of note that tested Siegrist in the Celtic goal. A Matthew Penney strike from just outside the box early in the second, which was turned around the post by the Swiss keeper, was their ‘best chance’. 

The left-footed effort from the on-loan defender carried an initial xG of 0.06 but a post-shot xG of 0.35. 

Individually, Abada (1.86) just edged Kyogo (1.68) for the total xG for their shots on goal. Hatate had the third highest, thanks to the high value of the opportunity for his goal.

Possession, passing & positions

The pass network gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved.

Celtic’s pass network is well structured with slightly more action from deeper on the left, including strong connections between Jenz and Taylor. 

In the midfield, there are plenty of forward passes showing just how often Celtic were able to carve through their hosts. Hatate stands out too with a high number of touches and combinations in all directions highlighting his key role in making things happen in the final third.  

By contrast, Motherwell’s network is disparate with a lack of forward passes beyond the halfway line. When they were able to get on the ball, their right-hand side was where most of their passes occurred.  

In total, Celtic had 67 per cent possession and completed 85 per cent (476 of 560) of their pass attempts while Motherwell completed 215 of their 301 passes (71 per cent). 

Hatate and Mooy clocked three key passes each on the night with Abada and Taylor also executing two each. 

For through passes, Mooy, who put in another impressive shift in midfield, tied with Matt O’Riley for most attempted in the match with three. The Australian was more accurate though, with two of his three finding a teammate while none of O’Riley’s found their target. 

Pressing and defending

A first clean sheet since the 4-0 derby win over Rangers at Celtic Park at the start of September, Celtic, other than the McKinstry chance, dealt with any threat Motherwell did manage to pose. 

That was likely helped by an impressive performance when it came to pressing. Celtic’s PPDA (Opponent passes per defensive action in opponent's final 60% of the pitch), used to qualify pressing intensity, was just 5.5. 

Below their league average on Wyscout of 7.08 so far this season, Celtic managed to maintain their levels throughout the 90-plus minutes with only a slight dip in intensity coming just after half-time. 

Motherwell by contrast allowed an average of 11.5 passes to Celtic before making a defensive action. 

In the basic defensive metrics, stand-in skipper Cameron Carter-Vickers underlined his importance with another solid showing at the back. He won 80 per cent of his aerial duels (four out of five contested) and won his one defensive duel contested.   

He also tied with O’Riley, and Motherwell’s Sean Goss, for most interceptions in the match (8) and also registered five clearances, also a joint match-high, with his centre-back partner Jenz.