Inevitably, victory fell to the team who wanted it more — the players with the greatest will to win — and Motherwell’s motivation came from a variety of sources.
From their desire to secure European football for a fifth time in six years. From the urge to finish second in the SPL. And from the quest to prove to Neil Lennon that they have players worthy of gracing any PFA Scotland shortlist.
Now assured of their place in the Europa League, Stuart McCall’s team also created a small slice of history here. After recovering from the loss of the opening goal, their determined second-half comeback secured back-to-back home victories over Celtic in the SPL for the first time ever.
Guard of honour: Motherwell marked Celtic's achievement of winning the Scottish Premier League
Match facts
Motherwell: Randolph, Hammell, Hutchinson, Ramsden, Law (Higginbotham, 90), Hateley, Humphrey, Lasley, Ojamaa (Francis-Angol, 89), Higdon, McFadden (Carswell, 85)
Subs not used: Hollis, Kerr, Cummins, McHugh
Goals: Ojamaa 45, Higdon (pen) 50, Forster OG 55
Booked: Hutchinson, Lasley, Higdon
Celtic: Forster, Izaguirre, Mulgrew, Lustig, Rogne (McCourt, 67), Rogic (McGeouch, 73), Kayal, Wanyama, Samaras (Stokes, 78), Watt, Hooper
Subs not used: Zaluska, Gershon, Keatings, Atajic
Goals: Hooper 40
Booked: Mulgrew, Wanyama
Ref: Euan Norris
Att: 7,503
Nine points clear of Inverness Caley Thistle with three games to go, the Steelmen need a solitary point to secure second place. Playing like this, they will get it. Not since the 1990s and the Tommy McLean era have Motherwell proven themselves the second force in Scotland’s top tier as consistently as this.
‘I’m proud of the staff and the players,’ said Stuart McCall after a strong second-half display, allied to a degree of fortune, contrived to blow a demotivated Celtic away.
‘I always say that you’ve got to score first against the Old Firm to have any chance of winning, but that blows my theory.
‘We showed great character to go a goal behind and come back to play like we did.
‘We’ve been playing like that since we beat Celtic in February and we’ve been on a good run, with the lads full of confidence, both individually and collectively.
‘The inspiration was to go out and show everyone what a good side they are.
‘Darren Randolph made a good save from Gary Hooper but, a bit like the PFA nominations, you could run through our side and pick five or six players who were outstanding.
‘The motivation is to be the best you can be and they were certainly that today.
‘Celtic might not have had the big, big guns playing today but they had a lot of talent out there.’
The opener: Englishman Gary Hooper fired Celtic into the lead
The home team had formed a guard of honour to applaud Lennon’s newly-crowed champions on to the pitch before kick-off.
Hooper’s 29th goal of the season then put Celtic ahead in 39 minutes and a victory parade was on the cards.
Thereafter, however, a Motherwell team in far greater need of the three points than Celtic took the bull by the horns.
Henrik Ojamaa’s fine equaliser on the stroke of half-time offered the home team a solid base to build on. And, in the second period, there were times when they threatened to blow a chopped and changed Celtic side to pieces.
Michael Higdon’s spot-kick in the 49th minute — his 26th goal of the season — was a soft award by referee Euan Norris after Ojamaa seemed to collide with Charlie Mulgrew, the Scotland defender caught on the wrong side of the attacker. However, it was taken with aplomb by the Scouser, who left goalkeeper Fraser Forster with no chance.
The third came in 55 minutes from a farcical Forster own goal after Mikael Lustig’s kamikaze defensive header from Tom Hateley’s cross struck the post and rebounded in off the giant Englishman.
Higdon, it has to be said, looked half a yard offside when the cross came in. Yet the goal stood.
Battle: Georgios Samaras vies for possession with Steven Hammell
There was a touch of fortune involved in the victory, then. Yet no one could begrudge Motherwell their day in the sun, interspersed with the kind of windswept downpours which delayed the kick-off by eight minutes to allow for a flailing advertising hoarding to be safely removed.
When the game did eventually start, Celtic had the best of the first half. Yet, by time up, Motherwell could have scored five. Most of all in the second half when Celtic were haphazard and shaky in defence.
‘Going forward I thought we were very good and I thought we deserved more out of the game,’ claimed Lennon.
‘But our problems were not going forward, I thought we were a bit shaky at the back again.’
With the league title already won, Lennon made six changes from the team which clinched the title with a thumping victory over Inverness last weekend.
Kelvin Wilson, James Forrest, Kris Commons and Efe Ambrose had been handed an early holiday but few of their replacements did much to suggest they have a Scottish Cup Final appearance against Hibs to look forward to.
Thomas Rogne was fortunate to avoid conceding a first-half penalty for a handball and showed why, in all likelihood, he will be allowed to leave.
Tony Watt was one of those brought back to the fore, and he played a more positive role in an opening goal which seemed liable to usher in a routine Celtic victory.
From the spot: Michael Higdon puts his side 2-1 up in the 50th minute
With his back to goal, Watt nicked the ball past Shaun Hutchinson before showing great strength to get to the byeline and draw keeper Randolph out wide.
The striker’s intelligent cross teed up a meat-and-drink header for Hooper, but the Englishman headed against crossbar before swiftly making amends by slotting the rebound into the net for 1-0.
At that stage Celtic — and Hooper — had good grounds for feeling the goal was deserved. Randolph had produced a quite stunning save from the forward in 34 minutes, after Australian Tom Rogic curled a terrific cross to the back post. Hooper’s sidefooted volley from eight yards was struck well enough. It was a fine stop.
Randolph then pulled off another superb save from Mulgrew’s 25-yard free-kick.
Motherwell had hardly been first-half bystanders. Hutchinson and James McFadden had come close, the latter with a trademark solo run.
‘It would have been a goal of the season if he had a right foot,’ observed McCall acidly.
The own goal: Higdon celebrates Fraser Forsters own goal as Celtic's players despair
Yet the hosts had no cause to fret. The turning point for the Steelmen was Ojamaa’s equaliser.
On the cusp of half-time, the Estonian was sent clear on goal after fine control and a weighted pass by Keith Lasley.
Despite the attentions of Mulgrew and Lustig, he struck a sweet right-foot finish low past Forster for 1-1.
Level at the interval, Motherwell had 45 minutes to secure European football beyond all reasonable doubt. They went about their task with some gusto.
Defensively, Celtic were all over the place. But for Forster, this might have ended up in an even more embarrassing defeat.
A deflected Chris Humphrey breakaway ended with a deflected shot which almost looped over the keeper. McFadden then blew that great chance one-on-one with Forster as Celtic chased the game.
The closest Lennon’s side came to a consolation was in the final minutes when substitute Anthony Stokes hit the base of the post with an angled shot.
‘I think, in the second half, we made Celtic look like an average team,’ said an unsympathetic Higdon. ‘We’re delighted with the win.’