Celtic survive second-half comeback to claim win

GLASGOW (AFP) - Celtic warmed up for their midweek Champions League match against Aalborg with a 4-2 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

The game had looked over as a contest at half-time with Celtic racing into a 4-0 lead with goals from Shaun Maloney, Scott McDonald and a double from Georgios Samaras as the Motherwell defence had a nightmare.

Motherwell, whose own European adventure starts on Thursday against Nancy in the UEFA Cup, improved vastly in the second-half and pulled two back through John Sutton and David Clarkson.

But despite dominating possession in the second period the home side could not get back on level terms as Celtic took all three points from the Scottish Premier League clash.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said the first 55 minutes of the match had been the best Celtic had played in a long time.

"That was as good as we have produced for a long time. There was a great flow to the game. Everybody knew when the ball was getting passed and everybody was moving at the right time.