Motherwell 0-2 Celtic: Hoops secure first win in four games to ease pressure on Martin O'Neill and go top in Scottish Premiership

After three losses before the international break, including two against Old Firm rivals Rangers, O'Neill declared his intention to not step down claiming that it would have been "poor" to do so .

Chris Sutton claimed pre-match that the 74-year-old should have walked away from the job during the break, but O'Neill's decision was rewarded by a pummelling performance from the Hoops.

Goals from Camilo Duran and Benjamin Nygren in either half were enough to claim the points, though the scoreline failed to show the true scale of Celtic's dominance.

Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen made a season-high 12 saves to prevent things from getting worse for the hosts.

His heroics were not enough to stop the inevitable result though, as the win sees Celtic go above Rangers at the top of the table and O'Neill avoids losing four straight games like the man he replaced in the dugout last season, Wilfried Nancy.

9: GOAL! Camilo Duran fires Celtic ahead with low drive from outside the box.

11: OFF THE LINE! Duran denied by Emmanuel Longelo who clears off the line.

52: DOUBLE SAVE! Paulsen saves from full-backs Colby Donovan and Kieran Tierney in quick succession.

57: OFF THE POST! Mika Baur's near-post flick beats Paulsen but comes back off the woodwork.

59: GOAL! Paulsen can do nothing to stop Nygren from doubling Celtic's lead.

61: CHANCE! Duran has a carbon-copy chance to Nygren, but Paulsen is on hand to stop him.

70: FINGERTIP SAVE! Another special save from Paulsen to deny Callum McGregor.

75: SUB! Jota makes his return to action after 18 months on the sidelines.

O'Neill: Celtic needed to get back to the basics

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill speaking with Sky Sports:

"We maybe just needed to get back to basics. The things that makes the club tick and the team go strong. All of those particular things I thought were in evidence.

"When you've lost a couple games and big matches, you have to look inwards and see what you can improve on. Of course, in some of the matches, there was a lot we could improve on.

"I think essentially it was back to what makes us strong. Pressing and the ability to play the ball when we had it."

Celtic defender Kieran Tierney speaking with Sky Sports:

"That was much more like us. I think we could've taken a couple more chances to be honest. We were working hard. It was evident to see the press was on and everybody was working together, tracking back. The tempo was just much better.

"It was a tough week. You know what it's like here. If you don't win there is scrutiny on you. That's not for us to get carried away, it's one win. We just need to build on it."

Johansson: We didn't profit from our moments

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson speaking with Sky Sports:

"We were the second-best team. There were moments in the game where we managed to do our thing and do what we want to do and it works. But, there are also two easy goals we conceded which we need to improve on.

"After the first goal we built up some momentum, but you need to profit from those moments when you play a good team. We didn't.

"We come to the second half. We started okay but they were putting us down. When you concede the second goal and the way you concede it, it opens up the game. We are in a situation where we put ourselves there. They looked dangerous on some transitions. In the end, you will always be one step behind."

What the result means and next fixtures...