Substitute Lubo Moravcik came off the bench to produce a magical free-kick strike to give jittery Celtic the points and a 14-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

Troubled Motherwell came to Parkhead with one purpose in mind and that was to frustrate and with 11 men behind the ball they succeeded for 82 minutes.

But manager Martin O'Neill decided on the last throw of the dice by bringing on the Slovakian and within seven minutes he had hit the jackpot when he curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

O'Neill spoke of his luck this season with injuries and he was at full strength to take on Billy Davies' men.

But the home side, still with a 100% record at home this season, were running out of ideas to break the lock to the Motherwell goal.

It took the home side just less than 10 minutes for them to find the rhythm which took them to two famous victories over Rangers in the space of five days recently.

Henrik Larsson found Bobby Petta down the left flank and the in-form winger whipped in a dangerous cross which Derek Townsley did well to clear.

Motherwell looked lively on the break, but in the 13th minute Celtic came within a whisker of taking the lead.

Larsson again found Chris Sutton and he played the ball wide for Petta, who ran to the by-line and fired the ball across the face of goal that just eluded the out-stretched boot of the £6million striker.

Celtic continued to pressure and moments later Kemble had to make a vital block from Sutton in the box after the wall had blocked Larsson's 25-yard free-kick.

It was all one way traffic and in the 15th minute former Rangers goalkeeper Andy Goram, whose every touch was greeted with jeers from the home fans, misjudged Thompson's cross and luckily Stephen McMillan was on hand to head the ball behind.

Motherwell were being penned in and Scott Leitch went into the book for a tackle from behind on Larsson.

Alan Thompson, who scored the winner in the league victory over Rangers a fortnight ago, saw glory again with the free-kick and Goram could only punch clear his stinging long-range shot.

Celtic had calls for a penalty in the 32nd minute when Larsson went down theatrically under the challenge of Kemble in the box but referee John Rowbotham waved away the protests.

It appeared certain that the visiting defence would buckle, but they were standing up to the home side.

Space opened up for Paul Lambert in the 39th minute after Petta had picked him out in the centre and the midfielder tried his luck with a crisp right-foot curler which Goram saved to his left.

But Celtic suffered a big blow a minute later when Petta limped off, and Stilian Petrov entered the fray.

The home side, however, should have taken the lead in the dying seconds of the half when Sutton picked out Ramon Vega in the centre, but the defender somehow totally failed to connect and another chance went begging.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, but only after McCulloch had tried a speculative lob from over 25 yards that Douglas saved comfortably.

But Celtic again were quickly back on the attack and Thompson blasted over from Lennon's free-kick.

Despite all their financial problems and the odds against them the visitors were holding firm, but Adams was shown the yellow card in the 53rd minute for pulling down a flying Petrov.

Petrov was seeding plenty of the ball and he should have hit the target two minutes later after Lennon had threaded the ball through to Sutton and the striker had laid it into the path of the Bulgarian, who blazed just over the bar.

Moments later Lennon also tried his luck with a fierce right-foot effort after a positive run - that flew just past the upright.

Townsley then became the next Motherwell man booked for a trip on Larsson in the 58th minute as they became more anxious to keep the home side out.

But they breathed a huge sigh of relief in the 70th minute as Celtic put together their best move when Thompson crossed from the left to Sutton, who watched his header come back off the post.

Kemble then hacked down Sutton in the Motherwell half and also went into the But when Celtic need to break the ice they hope the chance will fall to Larsson and the man himself was presented with a glorious chance to open the scoring in the 74th minute.

Adams was dispossessed by Petrov who slid the ball through to the Swede, who jinked inside McMillan before slashing the ball high over the Motherwell crossbar.

Desperate O'Neill gave Lubo Moravcik the chance to open the visitors up in when he replaced Lambert, the decision almost instantly proved a master-stroke.

Strong brought him down just outside the box and the Slovak himself ran up and curled an inch-perfect shot into the top corner of Goram's net.

Thompson could and should have killed the game off with three minutes remaining when he ran into space before unleashing a powerful shot which rattled against the crossbar and Larsson nodded the rebound over.

Teams

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren (Boyd 70), Mjallby, Vega, Agathe, Lambert (Moravcik 75), Lennon, Thompson, Petta (Petrov 43), Larsson, Sutton.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Crainey.

Goals: Moravcik 83.

Motherwell: Goram, Corrigan, Strong, Kemble, McMillan, Hammell, Adams (Ramsey 75), Leitch (Lasley 46), Townsley, Spencer, McCulloch (Elliott 61).

Subs Not Used: Connolly, Nicholas.

Booked: Leitch, Adams, Townsley, Kemble, Lasley.

Att: 58,880

Ref: J Rowbotham (Scotland).