Scottish Premier League/ Motherwell 1 Celtic 3: Celtic moved 10 points clear of Hearts at the top and in the process showed that any absence of Roy Keane is unlikely to damage Gordon Strachan's hopes of claiming the championship in his first season at Parkhead.
"The pressure on us was slightly different today," said Celtic's manager. "We had to go out there and lengthen our lead, which is different from earlier in the season when we were playing catch-up, but we coped with it really well."
His first domestic match as Celtic's manager had come at this venue and resulted in the teams sharing eight goals. That warm afternoon in July set the tone for a season which has been fraught with defensive problems, and the absence of Keane has given him an added headache.
He was forced into two changes to his defence after the 34-year-old Irishman suffered a hamstring injury in the first 15 minutes of a training session on Friday, Stephen McManus having already been ruled out through suspension. Keane is likely to return to training tomorrow with a view to making his comeback in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, also against Motherwell, on February 1st.
Strachan had been outraged when photographers pictured Keane hobbling out of training on Friday.
He has vowed to ban cameras from training sessions, while he also insists predictions surrounding the length of time the former Manchester United captain will be out have been exaggerated.
Strachan snapped: "If we had listened to the tabloid physios we would have been looking at four to six weeks. But to those that are qualified he could be out for seven to eight days.
"Tomorrow you might even see him on a bike - not outside but in training. There is absolutely no chance whatsoever of photographers getting into training for some time. So their last pictures should be savoured."
Yesterday the Celtic manager also decided to bring back Mo Camara at left back in place of Ross Wallace, who has looked uncomfortable in recent matches.
Stanislav Varga and Adam Virgo formed the visitors' central-defensive pairing and were under immediate pressure as Richie Foran watched a header kicked off the line by Camara.
But Celtic took an early lead when Maciej Zurawski beat William Kinniburgh to a through-pass from Stilian Petrov to slot the opening goal into the bottom right-hand corner of Graeme Smith's net.
It was the Polish striker's third goal in as many games, but Celtic were pegged back four minutes before the interval when Jim Hamilton volleyed in from 20 yards, cracking the ball past the despairing Artur Boruc after picking up Brian Kerr's speculative cross.
But the introduction of Aiden McGeady in place of Shunsuke Nakamura on 62 minutes proved to be the decisive factor. The youngster first danced inside Martyn Corrigan to lash a 20-yard shot past Smith, then skipped past two defenders and slotted the ball into the path of John Hartson, who supplied a cool finish to make the points safe with five minutes remaining.
MOTHERWELL: Graeme Smith, Corrigan, Craigan, Kinniburgh (McLean 84), Hammell, Kerr, McBride, McCormack, Foran, Scott McDonald, Hamilton. Subs not used: Meldrum, Fagan, Maguire, Coakley, Reynolds, Darren Lee Smith. Booked: McCormack, Foran, Hamilton. Goal: Hamilton 41.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Virgo, Varga, Camara, Nakamura (McGeady 62), Lennon, Petrov, Maloney, Zurawski (Pearson 74), Hartson. Subs not used: Marshall, Wilson, Wallace, Lawson, O'Dea. Goals: Zurawski 17, McGeady 71, Hartson 85.
Referee: C Richmond (Scotland).
