Celtic bounce back to win as Hibs sack Calderwood

Motherwell 1 Celtic 2

Colin Calderwood has been fired by Hibernian (GETTY IMAGES)

Celtic were relieved with their 2-1 Scottish Premier League victory over Motherwell at Fir Park yesterday. Neil Lennon's side had won only one of their last four SPL games, and had slipped to 15 points behind Rangers, but also into third place, behind a resurgent Motherwell.

The hosts shocked Celtic by going ahead through Michael Higdon's close-range effort on 11 minutes but Anthony Stokes soon levelled with a volley from Celtic's first corner. With 11 minutes remaining, Gary Hooper tapped in the winner. The hosts also had Tim Clancy sent off for kicking out at Hooper.

Celtic coach Alan Thompson described it as a "massive win", and complimented his players' character: "Motherwell made it physical and made it difficult for us as we knew they would but we stood up and they were men out there."

Hibernian sacked their manager, Colin Calderwood, last night. Calderwood had been in charge for 12 months but had won only 12 of his 49 matches, and Hibs lost 1-0 at home to Dunfermline on Saturday, leaving them ninth in the table. Following the match, a group of fans protested outside Easter Road asking for Calderwood and chairman Rod Petrie to go. The club hold their AGM tomorrow.

Rangers beat Dundee United 3-1 at home on Saturday, with two goals from Nikica Jelavic and an own goal by Garry Kenneth. PA