Celtic fans have been looking for a turning point this season as the team’s form and performance levels began to fall off of a cliff following the winter break.
Many believed that a last-gasp win at Easter Road could have provided the catalyst for just that, but Celtic would go on to drop points in the following league game against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park.
Celtic very nearly dropped points again in North Lanarkshire against Motherwell, with the alarm bells beginning to ring and the fears of the worst starting to creep into Celtic supporters’ minds when Blair Spittal curled the Steelmen ahead just before half-time.
It was a lacklustre first-half performance, one that we have come to expect over the last few weeks, and the familiarity of it has been one of the biggest problems this season.
However, in the second-half, Celtic had the answers as the substitutes came on and changed the game. Adam Idah played the starring role as he scored two top-class goals that sealed the points for Celtic in the dying embers of the game.
Whilst Celtic did get over the line in the end, the game didn’t seem to have the same ‘papering over the cracks’ feel to it that the late victory over Hibernian did just a few weeks prior.
Usually with Celtic, the team dominates the ball in the first-half, controlling the possession, but they never seem to really take advantage of their chances and it comes back to bite them in the second-half.
Things were flipped on their head against Motherwell, with the first-half being the poor performance, and that arguably provided the spark plug that Celtic needed to jolt the team back into life in the second-half.
It provided the team with the hunger and desire that has been sorely missed this season, and for the first time in weeks there was a real sense of urgency with the way Celtic were attacking.
It was a positive second-half, but it can’t just end there.
Consistency is the key in a title race
As previously mentioned, consistency has been what is missing from the team this season. In a title race, that can’t slide, and Celtic will slowly but surely slip away if they don’t find a level of consistency soon.
Now that isn’t something that can be found overnight, but the second-half display against Motherwell can definitely be a good starting point.
The importance for the team to carry over that same mentality shown in the second-half against the Steelmen to the midweek fixture against Dundee on Wednesday evening cannot be understated.
It was the substitutions that aided Celtic’s cause, and the likes of Adam Idah, Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma should all come back into the team for the visit of Tony Docherty’s side to Parkhead.
Whilst it is too early to identify turning points in a season as there have been many false dawns over the last few months, one thing that the match against Motherwell can definitely be seen as is a good starting point, and a perfect place for Celtic to build from.
James Mckenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie
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