**Josh Thompson was the unlikely hero, scoring twice as Celtic came from behind to edge out Motherwell. **Early in the second half, Thompson failed to clear a Tom Hateley free kick and Motherwell defender Mark Reynolds fired home from close range.
Thompson quickly made amends for his error by levelling with a shot from Scott Brown’s headed knockdown.
The teenage defender then powered in a header from Lee Naylor’s corner to seal a hard-earned victory.
Celtic interim manager Neil Lennon recalled Mark Wilson, Niall McGinn and Diomansy Kamara as he sought a reaction to the shock Scottish Cup semi-final defeat from Ross County at the weekend.
And a sparsely attended Celtic Park watched their team respond well to going behind in what was an entertaining second half, although the victory owed much to two good saves from home keeper Lukasz Zaluska.
On 10 minutes, McGinn charged down a Steve Jennings clearance and scurried forward to deliver a powerful cross for Robbie Keane. The Irish striker was well placed in front of goal but the ball was slightly behind him and he could not make a clean connection with his head.
Motherwell were packing numbers behind the ball but managed to string a few nice passing sequences together and Jennings saw his drilled shot from 20 yards blocked by a stretching Darren O’Dea after some neat build-up play.
Celtic saw a lot of the ball in an open first half but seldom troubled goalkeeper Michael Fraser, who was deputising for the injured John Ruddy.
Instead it was Zaluska who was called into action just shy of the half hour mark.
The Polish international had to get down smartly to stop a strike from Jamie Murphy and skipper Brown slid in to make it impossible for Lukas Jutkiewicz to turn in the loose ball.
McGinn, making his first appearance since January, embarked on a positive surge through the middle of the park only to sail a shot high over the crossbar.
Jutkiewicz then found himself in room behind the home defence but Zaluska came haring out to make a good save with his outstretched foot.
With the interval looming, Keane dragged an angled first-time strike wide and Aiden McGeady did well to cut in from left flank but his curling shot was comfortably gathered by Fraser.
Four minutes after the restart Motherwell were in front when Thompson conceded a free kick and the same player could only divert the delivery from Hateley into the path of Reynolds, who stabbed his shot in from six yards.
The home fans had barely started to register their discontent when Celtic levelled and it was Thompson who atoned for his mistakes.
Brown got his head to a McGinn corner kick and the teenage centre-half swept a first-time effort through a ruck of bodies.
McGeady drove a 20-yard shot just too high after an enterprising run and Fraser did well to narrow the angle and block a stinging strike from Keane as Celtic suddenly burst into life.
The Motherwell keeper then flapped at a cross, allowing Kamara a shot at goal but substitute Steven Saunders did well to clear with his chest in front of goal.
With 15 minutes remaining, Zaluska made a fine stop to keep out a close range header from John Sutton after the Motherwell forward had connected with a fantastic whipped cross from Jim O’Brien.
Thompson claimed his second goal soon after, towering highest in a congested penalty box to head home direct from Lee Naylor’s corner.
Keane smacked a volley narrowly wide as he latched on to a headed flick from replacement Marc-Antoine Fortune before Zaluska made another important intervention, racing out to deny Murphy on the edge of the penalty box.
Motherwell01 Fraser03 Hammell04 Reynolds05 Craigan (Saunders 56)08 Jennings14 Lasley (Coke 11 yellow card)24 Hateley09 Jutkiewicz (Humphrey 81)11 Sutton15 Murphy17 O’Brien yellow cardSubstitutes36 Hylsop,43 Saunders,06 Coke,07 Humphrey,12 Smith,27 Forbes,35 McHughRef: BrinesAtt: 27,750MOTHERWELLPossessionCeltic 51%Motherwell 49%Attempts on targetCeltic 8Motherwell 5Attempts off targetCeltic 7Motherwell 2CornersCeltic 7Motherwell 2FoulsCeltic 14Motherwell 8
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.