Celtic lose ground in title race

Motherwell 1 Celtic 1: Paul Quinn's late equaliser for Motherwell against Celtic at Fir Park prevented the Scottish champions going back above Rangers at the top of the table.

Hoops striker Scott McDonald received the help of the infamously poor Fir Park pitch in the 59th minute when his shot from the edge of the box appeared to bobble over the leg of keeper Graeme Smith.

However, nine minutes from the end of an exciting if rather agricultural encounter, Quinn levelled from 12 yards after the Parkhead defence had failed to deal with a Jim O’Brien cross.

Rangers remain top of the table on goal difference as Celtic now look to address their poor recent form which has seen them win just once in their last six SPL games.

The Hoops needed to quickly return to form but the heavily-sanded Fir Park pitch — mocked even by the club’s PA announcer in his choice of pre-match music - promised little in the way of good football.

The first half was certainly bereft of quality football although the Parkhead side almost took the lead in the fourth minute when McDonald and Georgios Samaras linked well inside the Motherwell penalty area before the Australia international curled his shot from 14 yards just wide of the junction between the post and bar.

Minutes later Celtic right-back Andreas Hinkel recovered well from a moment of hesitation at the edge of his own box to prevent Clarkson latching onto a long clearance from Smith.

The game soon descended into football in its most basic form.

With the ball being pounded black and blue up and down the park and the tackles flying in, excitement and energy levels were high in contrast to the quality on show.

As Celtic took a turn to attack, a mistake by Well defender Steven Hammell allowed Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to race onto a Gary Caldwell pass but Smith was equal to the Dutchman’s angled drive.

Motherwell midfielder Maros Klimpl picked up the first booking for barging Hoops’ defender Lee Naylor but that failed to calm either set of players.

As Celtic pushed again, Hammell made up for his earlier mistake when he cleared a goalbound shot by McDonald who had been played in by Samaras.

In the 32nd minute, the lively McDonald turned Motherwell stopper Mark Reynolds inside out before his low drive was parried by Smith with Klimpl mopping up.

It was going Celtic’s way but Vennegoor of Hesselink then headed Hinkel’s cross over from 10 yards when he should at least have worked Smith.

Motherwell finished the first half strongly and came out after the break in equally confident and determined mood, forcing the Parkhead defence in to some early and desperate defending.

The onus though, was on Celtic to regain their top spot and in the 59th minute they took a step closer to doing that when McDonald fired them into the lead with what appeared to be some help from the Fir Park pitch.

Well skipper Stephen Craigan failed to clear his lines at the edge of the Motherwell box, but, although the Hoops’ striker turned and got his shot away, it did not look likely to trouble Smith until it bobbled over his leg.

The game’s complexion turned on that incident and as Aiden McGeady replaced Vennegoor of Hesselink the champions went in search of a clinching second goal.

The goal looked to have taken some of the sting out of the home side, whose long punts from defence became increasingly hopeful.

But in the 81st minute the hosts dramatically drew themselves level after Hammell took a short free-kick to O’Brien on the left-hand side.

When the former Celtic player’s cross came over, the Hoops defence failed to clear properly and Quinn drove in a left-footed shot from 12 yards which sneaked in.

In a tense finale, Samaras headed a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick over the bar from 10 yards out and Scott Brown had an effort blocked by the legs of Craigan.

But Celtic could not grab a late winner and now find themselves in the slipstream of their great rivals in the title race.