Gary Hooper scored the only goal of the match as Celtic beat Motherwell 1-0 at Celtic Park on Wednesday.
The home side turned on the pressure in the early stages when they forced a couple of early corners, but their first chance of the match did not arrive until the fifth minute when Hooper struck a powerful effort towards goal, but it just moved wide of the post.
Kris Commons was next to come close for Celtic, but his shot was pushed away by Darren Randolph before Georgios Samaras struck over the crossbar with 15 minutes on the clock.
Another chance arrived moments later when Victor Wanyama struck from outside the box, but it just moved wide of the post. Motherwell's first real chance arrived after 19 minutes when Jamie Murphy collected outside the penalty area, but he fired his effort high of the crossbar.
The chances continued to fall for Celtic as the half developed and Efe Ambrose fired over from close range with 25 minutes on the clock. Meanwhile, Samaras had a strike ruled out for offside moments later.
Murphy remained the biggest threat for Motherwell in the latter stages of the opening half, but neither side could make the breakthrough as the score remained level at the break.
Keith Lasley came close to taking the lead moments into the second period when he struck an effort from outside the penalty area, but he just missed the target before Murphy just failed to make contact on a cross from the left.
Celtic continued to struggle to create clear opportunities as the match approached the hour mark, with Beram Kayal and Samaras restricted to long-range strikes.
Motherwell were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes to play when Kevin Wilson felled Murphy in the area, but Tom Hateley's effort was saved by Fraser Forster to keep the scores level.
It got worse for the away side moments later when Hooper pounced in the area to send Celtic into the lead with 10 minutes to play.
Chances remained few and far between in the latter stages as Celtic extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points.
Matt Law
