Celtic blues as O'Donnell hits a double to deepen Parkhead gloom

stumbling around in their own nightmare.

It could be argued they were extremely unfortunate at Fir Park last

night -- they hit the crossbar and a post and had Motherwell's defence

in panic at times -- but it also must be made clear that Celtic again

lacked a finishing touch and until they can sharpen that part of their

game, they will always struggle to be genuine contenders.

Even last night's goal was scored by a defender, Mark McNally, but

that was after Phil O'Donnell, who had a marvellous match, hit the first

of his two, the second one was a gem. The midfield player was always a

handful and Celtic's defence couldn't cope with his surging runs.

In the opposite midfield Paul McStay played well and ran until he

looked as though he was ready to drop, but he doesn't have around him

enough quality players.

Celtic left Lanarkshire having slipped further out of contention at

the top of the premier division, while Motherwell are only two points

behind Rangers with a game in hand and feeling confident about their

Scottish Cup, third-round tie in which they will again be at home to

Celtic.

Those Celtic fans who were inside the ground -- the kick-off was

delayed five minutes to allow a substantial number of latecomers in --

had their first look at Lou Macari's latest signing, Carl Muggleton, who

was bought from Leicester City yesterday for #150,000. The

25-year-old keeper had lost his place with the English side.

Until yesterday Muggleton, a former England under-21 internationalist,

was on loan to Sheffield United and although he is anxious to experience

again first-team football, he knows he will have to prove himself better

than Pat Bonner. Celtic's other keepers, Gordon Marshall and Stewart

Kerr, are on loan to Stoke City and Swindon respectively.

Macari droppped Gerry Creaney and Mike Galloway from the side which

lost to Partick Thistle on Saturday, which meant there was room to

accommodate Tony Mowbray and Brian O'Neil.

Celtic appeared lively enough in the early stages and Motherwell's

keeper Sieb Dykstra was called upon to make a couple of saves before his

own players started to make their presence felt. Tommy Coyne and Phil

O'Donnell combined well on the edge of the box to create a chance, but

O'Donnell was crowded out by McNally.

A few minutes later Charlie Nicholas was allowed a surprising amount

of time to control a firmly struck pass played in from the right by

McNally. Nicholas took the sting out of the ball with his head and then

hit it as it dropped with Motherwell's defenders standing around as

though set in concrete.

Peter Grant was booked after he had swiped the legs from O'Donnell in

midfield, but the indications were that Celtic had a slight edge

although their defenders still looked unsure of themselves whenever

Motherwell played the ball forward. However, the Fir Park side's defence

was in a state of panic when another Collins corner arrived from the

right.

Mowbray again won the ball and his header hit the underside of the bar

before Dykstra managed to punch clear. Minutes later, the Motherwell

keeper found himself stranded on the right-hand side of his box, and

Nicholas' chip on the turn hit a post.

A Collins shot ran narrowly wide of Dykstra's left-hand post as Celtic

increased their pace, but an appalling error allowed Motherwell a chance

a minute from the break. McStay and Mowbray collided just inside the

opposition's half and Dougie Arnott took possession.

He scampered down the right before cutting the ball inside for

O'Donnell to clip the ball under Bonner and into the net.

Celtic hit back three minutes into the second half after the referee

had failed to get out of the way, denying Tommy Boyd a clean shot.

However, the ball broke to McNally and, from 35 yards, his low shot beat

Dykstra at his left-hand post.

The Parkhead side applied more pressure but, again, they were caught

on the wrong foot in 59 minutes when Rab Shannon thumped the ball into

the box, where O'Donnell volleyed well into the net.

The midfield player had not long stopped celebrating when he was

booked after a stupid tackle on McStay.

MOTHERWELL -- Dykstra, Shannon, McKinnon, Krivokapic, Martin, McCart,

Lambert, Philliben, Arnott, O'Donnell, Coyne. Substitutes -- Kirk,

McGrillen, Thomson.

CELTIC -- Bonner, Gillespie, Boyd, Grant, Mowbray, McNally, Byrne,

McStay, Nicholas, Collins, O'Neil. Substitutes -- Galloway, Creaney,

Muggleton.

Referee -- D Hope (Erskine.)