Celtic warmed up for the Old Firm derby in midweek by thrashing Motherwell 4-0 at Parkhead.
Debutant Forrest among the scorers as Lennon boosts job prospects
Celtic warmed up for the midweek Old Firm derby by producing a devastating second-half performance to beat Motherwell 4-0 at Parkhead.
The home fans had to wait until three minutes after half-time to see a goal as Aiden McGeady scored before Darren O'Dea notched the second on 78 minutes.
Youngster James Forrest marked his first-team debut by scoring three minutes from time and on-loan striker Robbie Keane completed the romp in the final minute.
Interim Celtic boss Neil Lennon had chosen his starting XI with the Rangers game in mind and it paid off.
Josh Thompson and O'Dea returned to the heart of the defence at the expense of injured Glenn Loovens and Thomas Rogne but Diomansy Kamara and Keane were left on the bench with Lee Naylor and Landry NGuemo out altogether.
Bright start
The home side started brightly enough and striker Morten Rasmussen had a great chance to open the scoring in the second minute when Edson Braafheid's header back in to the box following a cleared corner landed at the Danish striker's feet.
However, his weak volley from 12 yards went straight to John Ruddy, the on-loan keeper back in the Motherwell goal after recovering from a thigh injury.
Moments later, defender Thompson, who had scored a double the last time the teams met last month, headed a Braafheid corner past the post from eight yards out.
The Parkhead side were in control and in the eighth minute, following good work from Georgios Samaras, Ruddy had to push McGeady's left-footed drive from 16 yards round the post for another corner which came to nothing.
Motherwell slowly worked their way in to the game and in the 17th minute Thompson blocked Ross Forbes' goalbound shot with his foot after good work by midfielder Tom Hateley, who moments later saw his volley go just past the Celtic post.
In the 35th minute, after Motherwell defender Stevie Hammell clattered Hoops striker Marc-Antoine Fortune 25 yards from goal, a training ground move from the resultant free-kick ended with Braafheid firing a shot high over the bar.
Celtic had an escape just before the break thanks to the alertness of keeper Artur Boruc.
Careless
Hateley's inswinging corner from the right had the Poland international scrambling to keep it out, tipping the ball on to the post before Samaras cleared to the relief of the home fans.
The visitors were almost punished at the start of the second half when Hammell's careless pass out of defence was picked up by Scott Brown in the centre circle.
The Hoops' skipper drove in to the right-hand side of the box before hitting a cross which evaded Ruddy and bounced back off the bar.
In the 48th minute, though, McGeady was more deliberate with his effort which gave Celtic the lead.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder's drive from the edge of the box was blocked by Hateley but with some quick thinking, McGeady sent a delightful chip sailing over the helpless Ruddy.
Three minutes later, Samaras drew a good save from the Well keeper with a 20-yard drive. Fortune got his head on the loose ball to send in to the air and Zheng rose high to head over from just six yards out when the second goal looked likely.
In the 77th minute Hateley forged his way in to the Celtic box but was thwarted by Boruc as he tried to squeeze the ball in from an acute angle.
But the points were settled a minute later when O'Dea headed in a McGeady cross from close range.
In the 82nd minute Forrest came on for McGeady to make his Celtic debut but minutes later, following a Motherwell corner, it was Hoops right-back Andreas Hinkel who was handily placed to clear Steven Saunders' volley off the line.
Three minutes from time Forrest ran on to a Fortune knock-on and dinked the ball over Ruddy from 12 yards to make it number three.
In a Celtic breakaway with seconds remaining Keane grabbed the fourth and sent away happy those fans who did turn up.
