Celtic held by late Sutton goal
John Sutton grabbed a stoppage time equaliser as Motherwell held Celtic to a dramatic 3-3 draw in a thriller at Fir Park. The home side had raced into an early lead when Efe Ambrose misjudged the flight of a lofted pass to let in Sutton to fire home a fifth minute opener. Kris Commons saw his 22nd minute penalty saved by Gunnar Nielsen before Zane Francis-Angol made it 2-0 when he poked past Fraser Forster in the 44th minute. Anthony Stokes pulled one back for Celtic in first-half stoppage time with an audacious finish before Georgios Samaras prodded home an equaliser in the 56th minute. Both sides had chances before Leigh Griffiths came off the bench to fire Celtic in front in the 86th minute. It looked as if Motherwell were heading for defeat after taking a two goal lead for the second successive week before Sutton slid home to seal a point for the home side that keeps them three points behind Aberdeen in the race for second place. "Our first half performance was poor and we gifted Motherwell two goals. It looked as if some of the players were on holiday already so obviously I had a few words at half-time," Celtic manager Neil Lennon explained. "Our second half performance was excellent and we should have won the game." Motherwell manager Stuart McCall was proud of his players' performance. "It was a deserved point and a fantastic match," McCall said. "When you are 2-0 up and lose a goal right on half-time and they score so early in the second half you think it is just a matter of time. "They get it with three minutes to go but what character from the lads to bounce back." - Low-angled shot - Motherwell grabbed the opener after just four minutes. Ambrose allowed Stephen McManus's long ball out of defence to sail over his head which let in Sutton to drill a low angled shot under the arms of Forster and into the net. Celtic were presented with a chance to equalise when they were awarded a 22nd minute penalty after Iain Vigurs stuck out a leg to trip Stokes, who was heading away from goal. Commons had scored his previous nine penalties but he was denied a tenth as Nielsen made a superb one-handed save. Motherwell got a second in the 44th minute as Celtic were caught out by a long ball from Stevie Hammell. Henri Anier unsettled Virgil van Dijk and the ball broke off Emilio Izaguirre to Francis-Angol who poked through the legs of Forster. Stokes produced a magnificent response to reduce the deficit in first-half stoppage time. The Irish striker dragged the ball away from a couple of defenders and then from a tight angle he produced an audacious curling effort that evaded Nielsen and snuck in at the far post. Motherwell came close to extending their lead in the 54th minute when Beram Kayal stooped to nod Sutton's header from a corner off the line. The home side were left to rue that missed opportunity when Samaras equalised two minutes later. A long throw-in into the box was headed out to Stokes whose scuffed shot landed at the feet of Samaras, who held off McManus to prod past Nielsen. Griffiths, in trouble with the Scottish Football Association for his behaviour off the pitch in recent weeks, replaced Kayal and looked to have made the headlines for the right reasons when he reacted quickest to prod past the keeper. However, Sutton had the last word when he slid in to connect with Lionel Ainsworth's pass at the back post. Relegated Hearts, who finished with ten men, secured a 2-0 win over Ross County, Partick Thistle won 2-1 away to Kilmarnock and St Mirren moved up to eighth with a 2-0 win over Hibernian. Stevie May scored his 26th of the season as St Johnstone defeated Dundee United 2-0 in a dress rehearsal of next month's Scottish Cup final.
