Goals from Moussa Dembele and James Forrest gave Celtic a comfortable if unspectacular win over Motherwell this afternoon.
Brendan Rodgers’ side moved 27 points clear at the top of the table – within a point of eclipsing the European record established by PSG last season when they won the French title with 31 points – as they eased to their 25th successive domestic win, 19 of which have come in the league.
It was a relatively drab opening period with Motherwell content to contain Celtic. The Fir Park side went into the game on the back of a 7-2 walloping at Pittodrie on Wednesday night, but they looked more compact and cohesive than they did against Aberdeen.
Dembele opened the scoring after being upended by Zak Jules in the box before dusting himself down to convert the subsequent spot-kick shortly after the half hour mark.
Motherwell had a chance almost immediately to reply when Craig Gordon was forced to deny Stephen Pearson from close range but by the time the interval had rolled around, Celtic had doubled their lead.
The second goal had Dembele as its architect after the French striker picked out James Forrest on the flank with a perfectly weighted pass.
The winger netted his seventh goal of the season after stepping inside and taking his time to ping an effort off the far post and into the net.
Stuart Armstrong emerged into the fray after the re-start as Liam Henderson made way for the midfielder who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for the past month.
Celtic tried to exact a more commanding lead with Scott Sinclair uncharacteristically blazing over after he found himself in space, while Dembele too had further chances to score. Kieran Tierney was the recipient of a harsh tackle from Ryan Bowman with the youngster left sprawling after a late lunge from the Motherwell player, who was fortunate to escape with only a yellow.
Motherwell had a chance to get a toehold back into the game when Bowman flicked a corner into the path of Pearson but the former Celtic player couldn’t get a decent connection with the ball and put the attempt over the bar.
The game ended with Celtic boring down in the hunt for more goals but had to be content with what they had.
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