Celtic penalty record 'needs improved' but why team might find it 'easier' to score against Lazio

Cameron Carter-Vickers on Celtic’s penalty woe, Motherwell frustration and the upcoming Champions League clash against Lazio

Luis Palma became the third Celtic player to miss a penalty this season in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The number of penalties awarded to the Old Firm remains a hot talking point in Scottish football, but perhaps of more concern to Celtic is how many they have been missing.

The Parkhead side have edged ahead of Rangers in the spot-kick column with the two received in their 1-1 draw with Motherwell on Saturday taking them to eight for the season, one more than their Glasgow rivals, who were also awarded one which James Tavernier converted late on to earn a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday.

Celtic missed one and scored one 0 the failure of Luis Palma to beat the diving save of Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly proving costly as, despite David Turnbull finding the net with his 86th effort, Jonathan Obika's glancing touch from a corner kick in added time rescued a point for Motherwell.

It means Celtic have now squandered three of their eight attempts from the 12-yard mark this campaign – with Turnbull and Reo Hatate also failing to hold their nerve.

It has left Brendan Rodgers’ side with no clear first-choice penalty-taker, but one man who is unlikely to take on the mantle is defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, who admits he will leave it to others to address the issue.

"Penalties are always a great chance to score a goal," the USA international said. "We have missed a few this season but all we can do is give our penalty taker as much confidence as we can. With penalties so much of it comes down to confidence. Whoever is taking them needs to be confident when he steps up."

Asked if he would put his hand up next time, Carter-Vickers replied: "Not really. I’m a clean enough striker of a ball but it’s definitely something we need to improve on.

"Players do practice them, not so much me because I am quite far down the pecking order probably. But the players likely to take them definitely practice them."

Celtic's spot kick woes summed up a frustrating afternoon for the champions as they failed to convert overall dominance into three points over a Motherwell side who had taken just two points from their previous nine matches.

"I don’t know if the performance was necessarily disappointing," Carter-Vickers said. "We controlled the game for large parts and had all the territory.

"I think we probably need to show a bit more quality in the final third so that we can get the second or maybe the third goal and make the game a little bit easier for ourselves.

"So performance wise it was probably just a bit of quality in the final third. Result wise it was definitely disappointing."

Carter-Vickers admits Celtic may find it easier to create chances against Lazio on Tuesday night as they recommence their Champions League campaign with a must-win match in Rome against the Italians they still hope to catch.

"It’s a totally different game," he stressed. "When a team comes up presses you it’s completely different, there is more space for our forwards and our midfield players to try go get in behind.

"It’s almost easier to create chances. But on the flip side of that we know that the defence will be under a bit more pressure than we were against Motherwell and it’s a different game."