Never mind the quality, feel the lack of width. However organised, compact and Motherwell were on Saturday, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that they ran into Celtic on a day when the absence of key players – especially their most effective wingers – left Ange Postecoglou’s men struggling to punch holes in the visiting defence.
Take nothing away from the Steelmen, who counter-punched brilliantly through the pace, guile and wit of Kevin van Veen. They more than deserved their point. But Celtic without Jota are a different team. More narrow, certainly, and half a beat slower in getting the ball in from the wide areas. Without Reo Hatate, meanwhile, they miss a player who drives into the spaces left by Celtic’s naturally expansive style. Spaces that someone like Tomoki Iwata seems almost reluctant to occupy.
With Sead Haksabanovic and Daizen Maeda both unable to deliver his normal service, Kyogo Furuhashi spent half of the afternoon crashing the six-yard box – his office – and thinking to himself: “Wait a minute. Isn’t there usually a ball here for me to smash into the net?”
