Celtic beat Motherwell 4-0 and returned to the winning tactic despite a poor performance in the Scottish Premiership.
After drawing a blank at Dundee United last time out, the Hoops were looking to move further clear at the top of the table with a 15th league win of the season.
It was a painful start for the champions as Motherwell appealed for a penalty when Tawanda Maswanhise fell to a challenge from Hyun-Jun Yang early on, but Var cleared the striker.
Yang then won Celtic a penalty just before the break when he collided with Well ‘keeper Aston Oxborough. The spot-kick was confidently converted by Arne Engels.
Daizen Maeda headed after the break with Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate leaving the bench to climb and make the score more comfortable.
Celtic remain clear at the top of the table on 47 points. Motherwell are 21 points behind in fifth.
Both managers made four changes for the first Boxing Day game at Celtic Park since 2010.
Celtic brought Cameron Carter back from injury while Liam Gordon was among those who fell to the bench at Motherwell.
The early flashpoint came in and around the Celtic box when Yang bumped into the back of Tawanda Maswanhise, who went down. Referee Ross Hardie booked the Motherwell forward for simulation and the game quickly moved on.
There was a lengthy VAR check at the other end after Kofi Balmer raised a hand as a cross flew out for a goal kick. The officials took their time looking for a handball but no touch was evident.
Oxborough made the first save 20 minutes after Maeda sent a loose ball towards goal.
The Premiership leaders had a better chance after Motherwell wasted two set-piece opportunities in quick succession and Lennon Miller’s slip inadvertently set up a counter-attack.
Oxborough saved Maeda’s shot with his foot and the goalkeeper and several defenders ultimately scrambled the ball to safety.
Motherwell seemed forged and Adam Idah could not make the maximum of the two half opportunities.
The team’s half-time chatter was replaced when Hardie pointed to the top corner after Yang leaped past Oxborough, kicked the ball towards the line and crashed to the ground as the goalkeeper stuck out his arms to retrieve a deflected cross.
The award stood after a VAR check and Engels sent Oxborough the wrong way from the spot.
There were other penalties after the break, Balmer coming out with a risky touch on Maeda as the winger came off the surface and Maswanhise strongly calling for a handball against Carter-Vickers.
Celtic had a huge let-off when former Hoops striker Tony Watt inadvertently blocked Marvin Kaleta’s header on the goal line and the hosts soon scored from their own corner in the 57th minute. Liam Scales flicked on Engels’ delivery and Maeda ran in to head home from close range.
If Motherwell’s players still had hope of getting something out of the game, seeing Kuhn, Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi come on the pitch in a triple substitution in the 63rd minute may have tested their confidence.
Kaleta showed plenty of ambition with an explosive run to feed Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, but the Mother submarine deflected her shot.
All doubts were dispelled in the 74th minute, when Kuhn recovered the ball from Anthony Ralston and fired a 25-metre shot that deflected wide past Balmer and deceived Oxborough.
Hatate surrendered to the Law in the 81st minute. Japan’s midfielder made an area from 22 yards out after a few quick passes and fired into the back corner.
Celtic Brendan Rodgers speaks to Sky Sports News:
“I’m happy, we had to be persistent today. I think Motherwell was very well organised in the first part and we had to move around and paint them. When a team is good, of course, it’s throughout the game that you play. “.
“We received the penalty before halftime, which is a smart moment to score. Arne finishes it off nicely. At this point I thought we dominated the game, we turned up the pace and we had the chance to score goals.
“We did it and we may have had some more. So, in general, stay with the white sheet, mark four, create the opportunities we did and master as we did, so it is very pleasant. “
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell on Sky Sports News:
“We know we gave up the ball, but I thought we defended resolutely, we were well organised. We were fine, out of possession.
“Celtic were obviously awarded a penalty at the time – on first view I felt it was really, really soft. I’ll maybe see another couple of angles of it, but I certainly didn’t feel that there was enough to warrant the way that the Celtic player went down.
“It’s a great moment for them, it’s rarely like that, on the edge of half-time. And I got frustrated with goals two and three.
“We want to park this game very temporarily because it becomes another game. It’s also a big task to play against Rangers in a couple of days. “