Weekend review: Celtic keep winning as the tussle at the top stays neck & neck and the coming weeks previewed.

After the high of Rome last Thursday it was back to league action on Sunday at home to a very decent Motherwell team.

Celtic got the job done and secured a pretty comfortable 2-0 win that could have been by more but considering the emotional and physical exploits required only three days earlier any victory would have done.

Odsonne Edouard scored his 13th goal of the season with a fine finish high into the net on 19 mins and Richard Tait slid the ball into his own net nine mins into the second half after a fine cross across the face of goal by Jonny Hayes.

Celtic dominated the game and Motherwell couldn’t register a shot on target and most of the second half saw Celtic pepper the visitor’s goal with Olivier Ntcham and the always impressive Jeremie Frimpong both coming close only to be denied by Well’s keeper Mark Gillespie.

That could’ve been Motherwell’s manager Stephen Robinson’s last match in charge with both Hibs and in particular Hearts linked with an approach and the North Lanarkshire side will do very well to still be holding onto him once the international break currently upon us has passed.

Off the field, the Green Brigade chose not to take to their section during a minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday.

It’s their right to do it but their choice of song to criticise the use of poppies during the game was uncalled for and achieved nothing except getting them booed by their own fellow fans. Am I the only one who cringes when this time of year comes up as another poppy controversy waits to embroil us? I’d guess not.

Over at the Tony Macaroni Arena or Almondvale as it used to be known Rangers secured a pretty resounding 2-0 victory that could have been by more. 

It’s usually a tough place to go as we found out earlier this season and they did last term but any lingering hopes of them dropping points proved misplaced as Livingston really went down with a whimper and the Govan side remain locked on 31 points with us with only a goal separating each other but it’s one in our favour so we stay top.

It really does look like it’ll be neck and neck all the way this season which was the way it always was with the exception of a few seasons between 1995 and 2011.

They’ve brought themselves back to the brink of another financial calamity in blowing absurd levels of cash considering their economic standing on amassing a bloated but undeniably improved squad.

Would I like us to be free and clear at the top of the league? Of course, I would.

But you can’t deny it’s exciting as we currently go blow for blow on all fronts.

Now we go into the international break which will see plenty of our player’s get a well-earned rest and plenty of others scattered out amongst the continent on their respective international duties.

Scotland, of course, have two dead rubbers in their Euro 2020 qualifying group the first of which is away in Cyprus and the second at home a week today against Kazakhstan.

Ultimately they mean nothing as Scotland can’t qualify from their group but could be important in building momentum and belief for next March’s vital playoff match at Hampden against opposition still be confirmed.

Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and James Forrest will all be involved as well as Greg Taylor and Lewis Morgan whilst Odsonne Edouard will be away with the French Under 21’s, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Kristofer Ajer with Norway, Tom Rogic with Australia and Nir Bitton and Hatem Abn Elhamed with Israel so Neil Lennon will have plenty of players to keep tabs on and worry over in the coming week.

Taylor has only played once in a Celtic shirt since his late-summer move from Kilmarnock but has a genuine chance of starting with Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney both pulling out of the squad with fitness issues.

Anything other than two wins will do little to raise the general malaise surrounding the Scotland squad and with the standard number of late withdrawals and a general feeling of apathy seemingly now ingrained in our national team, they are by no means guaranteed no matter how bog standard the opposition are.

We return to club action a week on Saturday at home to Livingston with Rangers not playing until the following day at Hamilton Accies.

Both of us will be heavy favourites to win and once again it will likely come down to who scores more goals to determine who stays top.

But with us kicking off first and at home it’s a real chance to put a bit of pressure on them and to see how they respond.

Then we go into another Europa League game the following Thursday this time at home to Rennes with us already through and the struggling French side already out but it’s a chance to win the group and exceed the ten points total in a European group stage neither of which we’ve done before.

Anyway, let’s just batten down the hatches in what has so far been an uncharacteristically freezing November and get through this international nonsense as we eagerly await to get back to the real stuff.