Celtic stretched their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to eight points with a 2-1 victory over spirited Motherwell at Fir Park. Leigh Griffiths atoned for a penalty miss by taking his tally to 37 goals for the season as he netted either side of a Scott McDonald strike in a thrilling encounter.Motherwell were looking for a point to secure a top-six finish and they could have made more of an early opportunity when Marvin Johnson raced towards the corner of the 18-yard box and slipped a pass inside to Chris Cadden, but his first-time shot was weak and easily saved by Craig Gordon. Celtic responded when Stefan Johansen laid a pass out to Mikael Lustig and his deep cross was headed towards the far corner by Griffiths where the ball dropped on to the top of the net with Connor Ripley struggling to deal with the danger.Ripley then blocked a shot from Patrick Roberts with his foot at the near post and three minutes later the Motherwell keeper pushed away Nir Bittons dipping effort from 25 yards. Marvin Johnson trips Celtic winger Patrick Roberts to concede a penalty The visitors continued to probe and Griffiths tested Ripley from a similar distance with a swerving shot which the stopper could only parry, but there were no takers for the rebound.Celtic squandered a great chance to open the scoring on 26 minutes when Johnson tripped Roberts as he weaved into the box, but Griffiths dragged the resulting penalty wide of the post seconds later.And Ripley again thwarted Griffiths with a superb one-handed block at his near post when the striker ran on to Bittons forward pass as Celtic broke swiftly on a counter-attack.At the other end McDonald took advantage of a slip by Charlie Mulgrew and slipped a pass to Johnson on the overlap but Scott Brown got across to block his low delivery inside the six-yard box.Ripley again came to Motherwells rescue when he blocked a sweeping drive from Colin Kazim-Richards on the six-yard line after Griffiths dummied a cutback from Lustig. Motherwell players celebrate Scott McDonalds equaliser The Well goalkeeper then clawed away a dipping net-bound shot from Kieran Tierney and moments later he saved another swerving drive from Roberts as Celtic laid siege around the penalty area.But the Hoops finally made the breakthrough a minute before the interval when Johansen threaded a pass to Tierney and his low centre was swept home by Griffiths from 10 yards, despite the best efforts of Ripley. Luke Shanley and Neil McCann analyse Celtics win over Motherwell in the SPFL Premiership. Motherwell had the ball in the net nine minutes after the break when Johnson and Louis Moult combined on the left side of the penalty area and the latter centred for McDonald to tap home, but the striker had strayed offside.A minute later Ripley turned a fierce drive from Roberts round his near post as the winger danced past Steven Hammell, and the keeper denied the same player as he got down the push away another powerful shot.But McDonald equalised after an hour when Tierney misjudged a forward pass, allowing Moult to get goalside in the box and lay the ball back from the goal-line for the former Celtic striker to blast into the far corner. Leigh Griffiths scores his first goal in Celtics 2-1 win Celtic restored their lead 15 minutes from time when Tierney hooked a cross into the box from the left as Motherwell struggled to clear their lines and Griffiths sent a snap-shot which squirmed through Ripleys grasp over the line.Ripley denied Griffiths once more at his near post with three minutes remaining when the striker nicked the ball off Kieran Kennedy and raced into the box. First team coach John Kennedy gives thoughts after Celtic beat Motherwell in the SPL. The league leaders saw the match out though and are now seven points away from becoming Champions of Scotland for the fifth successive season. Basketball Shoes Ireland Online . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Clearance Basketball Shoes Ireland . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. http://www.discountbasketballshoesireland.com/ .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Basketball Shoes Ireland . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Cheap Nike Basketball Shoes Ireland . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors.Chelsea striker Diego Costa could face retrospective action despite denying accusations of biting Evertons Gareth Barry during Saturdays FA Cup quarter-final at Goodison Park. The Spain international was shown a yellow card early on in a 2-0 defeat for a foul on Barry and in the 84th minute, the pair clashed again after Costa retaliated to a challenge by the former England international.Costa pushed his face into Barrys neck and motioned as if to bite, but appeared to withdraw at the last moment and then embraced his opponent, who did not react. Referee Michael Oliver pulled out a second yellow card, followed by a red, as the Brazilian-born forward was sent off for the first time in his Stamford Bridge career.Costas denial, and an admission of regret, came late on Saturday through a Chelsea statement, which read: Diego spoke to club officials after the game and expressed regret over his reaction to the challenge from Gareth Barry that led to his red card, but Diego was also very clear that he did not bite him at any point during that altercation.Barry was dismissed minutes later for a second booking in a separate incident. Costa (c) is shown a red card by referee Michael Oliver during the English The FA is waiting on a report from Oliver, who was confronted by Costa when he sent the player off, but officials have told Sky Sports News HQ they are aware of the incident and are looking into it.Oliver will submit his match report within the next 24 hours and any decision to charge Costa would be made by the FA on Monday.Guus Hiddink and Roberto Martinez both shrugged off questions about the altercation at their post-match news conferences. Costa and Seamus Coleman compete for the ball I try to be fair in my judgement, I havent seen it and it is difficult for me to say yes or no, said Hiddink. Without seeing, I dont want to give judgement on this.(Costa) was chased a bit in the game. They went after him. They knew it. It is within the rules.As a referee, you must protect the situation but knowing and feeling the atmosphere - then comes the moment that I would like to give judgement (on) but I havent seen it.Hiddink was asked whether Costa should seek help for anger management and jokingly made reference to the 2003 film of the same name. Costa (1st L) of Chelsea walks offf the pitch past Hiddink (2nd L) after the red card There are movies about that, I think, the Dutchman added.dddddddddddd One movie with Jack Nicholson. Maybe we go and watch it together.I like him still going towards the edge but you also have to take into consideration he was desperate to play today.It would have been better to rest him but it is not the type of game you rest players.It is all the combination; not fully physically fit and all the provocations and he has to take responsibility for the incident.Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who was grateful to two moments of brilliance from striker Romelu Lukaku before the red cards to settle an otherwise disappointing tie, played down the incident. Everton manager Roberto Martinez felt the referee was right to send off Costa and Gareth Barry My interpretation is I dont think it was a key moment. It was an emotional game and rightly so, said Martinez.Diego Costa had a fighting spirit and I would like to praise the referee. The sending-off of Costa was right.The sending-off of Gareth Barry was right and the referee never allowed those emotions to stop the fluency.Whatever happens with Diego Costa, I am sure the two players shook it off. From where it was, he moved his head towards Gareth Barry and I lost sight of that action.I thought it was a second yellow. It was a moment that didnt have an impact on the scoreline.Martinez rejected the suggestion his players had targeted Costa.It is part of trying to do an interpretation as you want, he added.We matched each other well. None of my players fell into the focus of losing the game. Also See: Lukaku double ousts Chelsea FA Cup talking points Arsenal v Watford preview Man Utd v West Ham preview ' ' '