(Credit: Imago)

Evan Shaw

Wed 13 May 2026 22:15, UK

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Motherwell were unable to halt Celtic’s push for the Scottish Premiership title as the visitors ran out 3-2 winners at Fir Park on Wednesday night.

Elliot Watt’s volley gave the Bhoys a huge scare in the 17th minute of the action, as they knew that defeat would likely see their title hopes end ahead of the final game of the season this weekend.

Martin O’Neill’s men have built a reputation for coming from behind this term, and they pulled it off yet again as a pair of superb finishes from Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren either side of half-time gave them all three points.

Liam Gordon’s goal dashed their hopes again in the 85th minute, before Kelechi Iheanacho converted a penalty deep into stoppage time to secure another late victory.

The Bhoys’ victory has left them just one point behind leaders Hearts heading into their all-or-nothing encounter with the Jambos on Saturday.

Celtic’s midweek trip to Motherwell was crucial in the context of the title race, and with that in mind, Football Insider picks out three errors from referee John Beaton during the huge clash.

Liam Scales extremely lucky to escape early yellow card

Celtic were evidently frustrated by the manner in which they conceded the opening goal, and Liam Scales wasted no time in taking his frustration out on the opposition.

The centre-back was deep into the attacking half when he piled into Callum Slattery in the 19th minute, as he arrived late into the challenge to leave the Motherwell man in a heap on the floor after he had turned the ball around the corner.

Beaton instantly blew for a foul against the Celtic star, and replays showed that he caught Slattery with an arm in the face as well as barreling into him after the ball had been played.

Beaton was clearly keen to avoid the game becoming dictated by a series of cards, but he surely should have taken Scales’ name for his challenge.

It was both late and petulant, and the fact that Scales’ flailing arm also came into play meant that he essentially could have been booked for either of the two offences.

With that in mind, the 27-year-old could count himself extremely lucky to have avoided going into the book, which would have left him walking a tightrope for the remainder of the evening.

Martin O’Neill rages after Celtic penalty appeal

Maeda’s efforts were huge for Celtic yet again, with his strike dragging them onto level terms as they ended the first half on the front foot, and they almost got themselves ahead right on the stroke of half-time.

Maeda latched onto a looping ball over the top before being knocked to the ground by the onrushing Motherwell goalkeeper Calum Ward.

Arne Engels picked up the loose ball and saw a lobbed effort rebound off the crossbar, and only then did Beaton blow up to assess the injury to the Celtic forward.

There were muted appeals for a penalty at the time, but Sky Sports replays showed that O’Neill was absolutely fuming at the fact that his team hadn’t been awarded a spot-kick.

The 74-year-old boss took his frustration out on the fourth official, but Beaton arguably should have pointed to the spot.

It was far from a stonewall penalty shout for the Bhoys, but it certainly fell into the category of incidents that have regularly been penalised this season, as Ward barelled through Maeda to get to the ball.

Elliot Watt lucky to escape punishment for late kick-out

Watt had a fantastic game for Motherwell in the middle of the park, but he could surely count himself lucky not to have been punished for kicking out at Anthony Ralston in stoppage time.

The midfielder had been fouled by Iheanacho on the edge of the Celtic box, with the Nigerian seemingly catching his opponent with a stray boot.

Ralston crept towards Watt while he was on the floor to try to recover the loose ball, and the Motherwell man had a little kick out at the veteran as he moved in.

It was nowhere near enough to warrant a potential red card, but he could undoubtedly have counted himself lucky not to have seen yellow for an action which showed a total lack of professionalism.