Camilo Duran scores Celtic's opener against MotherwellSNS

Camilo Duran put Celtic in front with his eighth goal of the season

At a glance

  • Celtic end three-match losing run and return to top of Scottish Premiership

  • Low Duran strike puts Celtic in front early on before Nygren adds a second after half-time

  • Motherwell goalkeeper Paulsen keeps scoreline respectable with a series of excellent saves

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership and recovered from their pre-international break woes with a comprehensive victory at Motherwell.

Having lost three successive matches before the three-week hiatus, the champions went in front through Camilo Duran's low drive on nine minutes and bossed proceedings from there.

Against a Motherwell side also struggling for confidence, Celtic squandered a host of chances either side of half-time, before Benjamin Nygren scrambled home a richly-deserved second after being teed up by Kasper Hogh.

The Celtic onslaught continued, but home goalkeeper Alex Paulsen kept the scoring down with a string of superb saves.

Motherwell never really threatened to get back into the game, with striker Seb Palmer-Houlden heading their best opportunity wide.

Alfred Johansson's side have now lost four games on the spin and the optimism built by early-season results in Europe has all but dissipated.

They are ninth in the table, three points above bottom club Kilmarnock, while Celtic are two points above rivals Rangers.

Motherwell v Celtic highlights

11/10/2026

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Celtic analysis: Much-needed three points and confidence boost

Off the back of two defeats by Rangers and a shock Europa League loss against Ferencvaros, there were question marks over Martin O'Neill's desire to continue in the Celtic dugout.

After a period of reflection, the 74-year-old last week insisted he was "just as determined now than ever before" to lead the club and the win at Fir Park was O'Neill's 250th in a glittering Celtic career that stretches back to 2000.

Amid yet more fan protests against major shareholder Dermot Desmond, Celtic's result and the performance provided a much-needed tonic for O'Neill and the travelling support.

Yes, there could and probably should have been more goals and club-record signing Kasper Hogh's wait for a goal goes on - the Dane has only scored in one of his first 10 Celtic appearances - but this was a dominant performance.

Mika Baur was excellent in the middle of the park after making his Germany debut earlier this month and was unfortunate not to score when a clever flick from close range hit the bar.

Perhaps the most heartening moment of the afternoon for those of a Celtic persuasion came with 15 minutes to go as Jota made his first appearance in almost 18 months.

The roar from the away end as the Portuguese winger came off the bench spoke volumes. It will undoubtedly take time for him to get back up to speed after such a long injury lay-off, but a fully-fit Jota would bring the quality O'Neill has craved since he returned to the Celtic hotseat.

Sterner tests await with Benfica and Celta Vigo in the Europa League either side of a league clash with Hearts, but Celtic did what they had to at Fir Park.

Jota celebrates with Celtic fans after 18 months out with injury

Motherwell analysis: Paulsen spares blushes as losing run goes on

In contrast, this was another chastening afternoon for Johansson and Motherwell.

Replacing Jens Berthel Askou and dealing with the departures of key players such as Stephen Welsh, Elijah Just and Elliot Watt was never going to be a straightforward task, but Johansson needs a result quickly.

The hosts' best moments in attack came after Ibrahim Said was brought on as a substitute for the anonymous Willy Vogt. The Nigerian attacking midfielder brought a much-needed spark, but even then, chances of note were few and far between.

Johansson has made no secret of his desire to play attractive, high-energy football, but they were alarmingly open at times.

Celtic had 19 shots in the hosts' box and Paulsen was exposed time and again, making 12 saves in total.

That is eight goals conceded in Motherwell's past three matches - a trend Johansson needs to address quickly if they are to arrest their slide.

They go to Kilmarnock next weekend before three games in six days finish the month, against Hearts, St Johnstone and St Mirren.

What the managers said

Motherwell will 'continue to work towards identity' - Johansson

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "We are the second best team today, Celtic are better than us.

"We were not sharp enough in and around their box. Second half we started OK, then you concede the second goal in the way we did. After that, we tried to be positive and we created a couple of chances.

"Motherwell has a clear football philosophy. This is something I and the players are fully behind. Building a new team is not done overnight. We will get more players back from injury, young players will grow, but we will not change anything [in terms of style].

"It's clear we need to improve. We will work hard to do better in the future."

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill: "Delighted with the performance. The team played really well. Maybe could have scored a few more goals, but we created a lot and that was desperately encouraging.

"It's psychologically a big boost to play as well as we did and go back to the top of the table.

"Isn't it nice to see [Jota] back. He's a firm favourite with the crowd and as the days and weeks go on, he will improve in terms of fitness."

'Psychological boost to go top again' - O'Neill

Player of the match

A. Paulsen
7.54
1 A. Paulsen
7.54
5 M. Moormann
5.38
45 E. Longelo
5.31
19 I. Said
5.15
7 T. Sparrow
4.97
2 S. O'Donnell
4.95
47 S. Palmer-Houlden
4.84
8 L. Fadinger
4.75
71 J. Hodge
4.71
11 A. Lowry
4.65
63 D. Levitt
4.57
77 W. Vogt
4.25
13 J. Kanga
4.08
15 E. Björgólfs­son
4.08
3 J. Girdwood-Reich
4.05
18 T. Maswanhise
4.02
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