Ange Postecoglou reckons not many teams in Europe will have matched Celtic’s flawless recent domestic run. Goals from Japanese pair Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda earned the champions a 2-1 win at Motherwell and kept them seven points clear in the Premiership.
Victory at Fir Park was an eighth successive domestic triumph in the period since the last international break in mid-September. Despite having Champions League commitments to contend with, Celtic have kept crystal clear focus on matters at home. Postecoglou commended his troops as he urged them to finish it off against Ross County on Saturday. He said: “We’ve had perfect league form in such a period of real fixture congestion, including Europe. There wouldn’t be many teams in Europe who have gone through that period and had the level of results we’ve had. It’s credit to the guys as it’s not easy.
“I’ve got no doubt that we can finish strong on Saturday. All the boys who have come through this will feel better about themselves for having come through it. Obviously we’ve got a strong squad, but sometimes that makes it tough, too, because you bring players in and it changes things. It’s important for us that as we continue to build and become a better side, the more we’re resilient through difficult times because they will always come, it’s never all going to be easy. So the fact it is there is good.”
Celtic, whose defender Cameron Carter-Vickers left Fir Park with his name confirmed in the USA squad for the World Cup, were not at their blistering best, but still did enough to see it through. Postecoglou admitted it had been tough at times and said: “It was a bit of a grind. We never really got into the rhythm we wanted.
“Credit to Motherwell. We didn’t start well and complicated things. We made the game difficult for ourselves. They worked hard and disrupted us. When we’re playing well we move the ball quickly and find simple solutions. I thought we just tried to be too cute, didn’t play the obvious pass. It didn’t allow us to control the game the way we wanted.
“My role is to assess performance and we could play better, but a big part of this team is their character when we’re not at our best. Winning away from home in the Premiership is never easy. That we found a way again is credit to the lads. We had good opportunities to take advantage of the space. It just happened too infrequently. I prefer to play well every game, but over the course of a season that’s impossible. That is not going to happen. They’re human beings.”
Maeda's strike sealed the win and the boss praised his Qatar-bound attacker as he said: “He works so hard for the team. He’s surrounded by other attackers who are different to him. He doesn’t get the headlines. But the contribution he makes is immense. I left him out for the last couple of games to freshen him up. He was outstanding again.
“The subs coming on were really important for us. He finished it off. At the weekend it was Kyogo. The lads have a good attitude about rotating the team, which is not easy, because they all want to play all the time.”
Motherwell boss Steven Hammell was dejected after losing the game and also losing Kevin van Veen, Bevis Mugabe, Stuart McKinstry and scorer Ross Tierney to potential injury absences. He said: “As the game went on I felt we played with more intensity and had more momentum. But we just fell short.
“In no game this season have we come away and thought we were well beaten there. We are putting a lot in and not getting a lot out. That is something we need to address. We competed well against a terrific team but just came up short.”
