Celtic player ratings vs Motherwell: Stand-in skipper Johnston shines as Hoops coast to victory in Lanarkshire

Much-changed Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park, courtesy of goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and substitute Adam Idah.

Brendan Rodgers- whose side had briefly lost their grip on top spot after Aberdeen’s narrow 1-0 victory over Dundee United on Saturday evening - opted to ring the changes after the midweek Champions League game in Italy, with four made in total.

Skipper Callum McGregor was a notable absentee from the matchday squad through injury with Alistair Johnston wearing the armband in his place, but defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Greg Taylor were both included on the bench after recovering from recent layoffs.

And they produced an early statement of intent when James Forrest found himself in behind the hosts backline within the opening two minutes before firing a low ball across the penalty area which required some last-ditch defending from Liam Gordon to hook clear to safety.

The Steelmen were looking to overcome the odds and they almost took a shock lead after eight minutes when Paulo Bernardo played his way into trouble deep inside his own half. He was robbed of possession by Apostolos Stamatelopolous but a poor touch allowed Schmeichel to make an important block. However, the ball fell kindly to Lennon Miller and the teenager’s low effort cracked the post.

Miller was proving instrumental in much of Motherwell’s attacking play. He was brought down on the edge of the box two minutes later and dusted himself down to curl the resulting free-kick off the face off the crossbar. Two early warning signs for the champions.

It had been a breathless start to the match with nine shots on goal within the opening 22 minutes, the majority of which had come from the men in Claret and Amber. But they were left to rue those missed opportunities as the visitors eventually opened the scoring just shy of the half hour mark.

Midfielder Luke McCowan - making his first start since arriving from Dundee on deadline day in the summer after a string of impressive cameos to date - wasn’t closed down quickly enough by the Well defence, allowing him time to drill a low shot under the outstretched Aston Oxborough into the far right corner.

Celtic then thought they had a quickfire second when Alistair Johnston’s pass picked out Daizen Maeda in the penalty area. The Japanese attacker appeared to be pushed to the ground by Stephen O’Donnell and the ball deflected into the net off his arm. Both sets of supporters were unsure whether referee David Dickinson had awarded the goal, but after a VAR review the whistler ruled it out for handball with no penalty given either.

With that, an intriguing first-half in North Lanarkshire came to an end. It was Rodgers’ men who flew out the traps at the start of the second half and Oxborough was called into action to save Kyogo Furuhashi’s driven shot from the edge of the box after cutting onto his favoured right foot.

But Celtic did manage to double their lead shortly after when Alex Valle’ cross to the back post was met by the on-rushing Johnston who ghosted in unmarked to guide a header into the net - the Canadian right-backs' third away goal of the season.

That afforded Rodgers the chance to make a couple of changes with centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers coming on to make his first appearance in six weeks after recovering from a toe injury, while winger Nicolas Kuhn also entered the fray with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Motherwell offered little going forward in the closing stages and Celtic looked more likely to add to their lead. An excellent Hatate pass found Kuhn in space. The German winger laid the ball off to fellow sub Idah but his strike clipped the outside of the post.

The pair combined again to brilliant effect in the 89th minute when Kuhn laid the ball on a plate to the former Norwich City frontman to tap home Celtic’s third goal and wrap up three points.

There was still time for more late drama when referee Dickinson flashed Well defender Liam Gordon with a straight red card for ‘serious foul play’ after a VAR check confirmed the centre half caught Idah with his studs showing on the ankle.

Here’s how we rated the Celtic players at Fir Park.