Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou has highlighted one key Celtic moment that he believes completely changed the game during his side’s 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park. Interestingly, he did not point to goalscorers Yang Hyun-jun or Tomas Cvancara.
Instead, the Steelmen boss believes Daizen Maeda’s role in the penalty incident proved to be the turning point that ultimately swung the match in Celtic’s favour.
For long spells of the game, Motherwell had matched the Scottish champions. After taking the lead through Elijah Just, Askou’s side looked organised, pressing aggressively and making life difficult for the Hoops.
Even after Celtic found an equaliser, the contest remained evenly poised heading into the second half.
However, everything changed in a single moment inside the Motherwell penalty area.
When a Celtic corner was delivered into the box, Maeda attacked the back post and became involved in a tussle with defender Emmanuel Longelo. The Japanese forward went down while attempting to reach the ball.
Referee John Beaton initially allowed play to continue and signalled for a goal kick, despite immediate protests from Celtic players.
VAR soon intervened and asked the referee to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. After watching the replay, Beaton overturned his original decision, awarding Celtic a penalty and showing Longelo a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The decision instantly changed the course of the match.
Tomas Cvancara stepped up and calmly converted the penalty to give Celtic the lead, while Motherwell were left to play the rest of the match with ten men.
From that point, the challenge became extremely difficult for Askou’s team.
Speaking after the match, the Motherwell manager admitted the moment was a huge setback for his side and acknowledged how costly it proved.
“You can argue that Manny is holding him a little bit too long. Maeda is also trying, they’re wrestling,” Askou said.
“You see that situation many times. Often the ball doesn’t end up there. If the ball had gone somewhere else, it probably wouldn’t have turned into a penalty.”
The Danish coach accepted there was an argument for the referee’s decision but admitted the consequences were painful for his team.
“There’s an opportunity for the referee to say there’s a holding offence, and that’s hard to argue against. Manny is obviously very disappointed because he feels he could have handled that situation better.”
The double punishment of both a penalty and a red card made things even more difficult for the visitors.
“Then we get the double punishment with the red card, which made it a huge challenge for us. I actually felt we were in a good position in the game and ready to push during the final 20 to 25 minutes.”
With the advantage of both a goal and an extra player, Celtic began to take control and eventually sealed the victory with another goal from Yang Hyun-jun late in the match.
While Yang and Cvancara will take the headlines for their goals, Askou made it clear that, from Motherwell’s perspective, the defining moment of the match came earlier when Daizen Maeda’s run forced the mistake that changed everything.
Without that single moment, the outcome of the game might have looked very different.