Victory against Motherwell puts Celtic eight points clear

May 4 2008 By Scott Mcdermott

CELTIC hitman Scott McDonald helped fire the Hoops eight points clear in the SPL title race yesterday then warned rivals Rangers: "The pressure is all on you."

The Aussie grabbed a vital equaliser against old club Motherwell before super sub Georgios Samaras headed home to seal a priceless 2-1 victory after a contentious corner-kick decision from ropey referee Steve Conroy.

Chris Porter gave the Fir Park side the lead but McDonald responded inside 65 seconds to set Celtic up for the win that moved them further clear of Rangers.

Walter Smith's men still have four games in hand as they chase a remarkable quadruple and play the first of those matches against Hibs at Easter Road today.

McDonald knows Celtic still need a huge favour from someone but insists Gers have it all to do if they want to snatch Hoops' crown.

He said: "The pressure is on Rangers now. We need other teams to help us out but can't worry about themtoo much. Allwe can do is win our games and hope someone does us a favour. If Rangers don't slip up and win all their matches they will fully deserve the championship.

"Our attitude has been spot on since the first win over Rangers at Celtic Park. After that we didn't play well against Aberdeen but got the points and that is all that matters."

Celtic got a big break for their winner yesterday when Samaras scored from a corner that should have been a Well goal kick when Bobo Balde headed the ball out.

But McDonald said: "People might say we were lucky in the Aberdeen match and again today but at the end of the season no-one will remember it game-by-game. It's all about victories."

The former Well star also admitted Celtic would have struggled to get anything from the game if they hadn't bounced back so quickly after Porter's opener in 60 minutes.

And he was delighted at how the Hoops changed their style of play on the awful Fir Park pitch and competed physically with Mark McGhee's side.

He said: "It could have been different if we hadn't scored straight away - it was a really difficult game.

"I know more than anyone how tough a place this is to get a result.

"At first we were trying to play in the middle of the park but it was impossible on that pitch - it was so bobbly. The ball was flying everywhere but that's not an excuse.

"To get back in the game so quickly deflated Motherwell and gave us a huge lift. It was a fantastic cross from Shunsuke Nakamura for my header.

"We knew Well would put pressure on us at the end and at times they were better than us."

McDonald was quick to praise the contribution of Greek sub Samaraswho popped up again to deliver the goods.

Skippy said: "It's great when a fresh striker comes on - as long as it's not me who's going off. But Samaras has been tremendous for us.

"He probably feels disappointed about not starting more games. But he has made a massive contribution."