McFadden and Fagan leave Celtic reeling
Motherwell 2 Celtic 1
Celtic succumbed to their first defeat of the Scottish Premier League season – and their first in nine months – as James McFadden inspired Motherwell to an absorbing victory at Fir Park last night.
The teenager underlined why he was given his debut by Scotland during the summer with an outstanding performance in which he had a hand in one goal, and kept his composure to strike the decisive penalty 10 minutes from the end.
It looked as if Motherwell were going to be frustrated for all their endeavour until they seized two goals in four minutes in a dramatic conclusion. McFadden was involved in the 76th-minute breakthrough by Shaun Fagan, feeding Steven Hammell whose superb cross was met by the substitute's downward header.
Then, four minutes later, McFadden raced clear and cleverly lured Ulrik Laursen into tripping him up, before sending the Celtic goalkeeper, Robert Douglas, the wrong way from the spot.
John Hartson pulled one back for Celtic with a fine angled volley in 88 minutes, but it was too little, too late.
A goalless first half had brimmed with adventure and flair as both sides racked up a catalogue of chances. Encouragingly for the whole of Scotland, given the indignity suffered by the national side at the weekend, the most eye-catching player throughout was McFadden. The youngster perpetually tormented Joos Valgaeren, with Stephen Pearson almost profiting from McFadden's best work when his volley flew inches over the bar.
That Celtic failed to break the deadlock was down purely to Henrik Larsson, who failed to finish two glorious chances before the interval. In the 41st minute, he steered Steve Guppy's low cross wide and then drilled a shot into the side net after evading his marker.
Hartson's late goal offered Celtic hope, but the main beneficiaries of McFadden's performance – apart from Berti Vogts – are Rangers, who will go top of the Scottish Premier League tonight if they beat Hearts.
Motherwell (4-4-2): Woods; Corrigan, Partridge, Sengewald, Hammell; Lasley, Leitch (Fagan, 70), Adams, Pearson (Ramsay, 51); Lehmann, McFadden (Ferguson, 90). Substitutes not used: Dubourdeau (gk), Russell.
Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen; Agathe (Maloney, 69), Lambert, Petrov, Thompson (Hartson, 64), Guppy; Larsson, Sutton. Substitutes not used: Hedman (gk), Crainey, Maloney, McNamara.
Referee: W Young.
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