Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is still looking for answers to their penalty problem after Luis Palma missed from 12 yards in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
The Hoops missed three penalties last season and Palma followed David Turnbull and Reo Hatate in missing from the spot since Rodgers returned.
Turnbull did convert a penalty in the 86th minute after Palma went off, but Jonathan Obika headed a last-minute equaliser.
Palma scored from the spot against Aberdeen last time out, but Liam Kelly dived to his right to parry in the 66th minute and deny Celtic a platform to look for further goals.
Rodgers said: “I was looking before I came in here that there have been a number of penalties missed.
“These are decisive moments in games and you have to be ready to take them. You are never always going to be three, four, five up in games. You get that opportunity, you have to take it.
“It is something that the players who are going to be the penalty takers are working on every day.
“We have to stay focused on that because it is a skill. You can’t replicate the pressure, but penalties are a skill and a skill we have to be better at.
“The keeper’s made a decent save. It’s all about variety with penalty takers. I know he practised (on Friday), he didn’t go that side, he was working on the keeper’s left.
“But that is the choice he made. He is brave enough to take them.”
Rodgers felt the cinch Premiership leaders were missing “that little bit of freshness and zip in the final third” as they moved nine points ahead of Rangers, who have two games in hand.
He added: “We should win the game. Obviously we had enough of the ball. We got into a lot of good areas and obviously (had) chances to be more comfortable. It is always a danger when you are not.
“But credit to Motherwell, they defended really well and we never had enough to break them down.
“But when we did get the opportunity to go in front then every moment after that is a decisive one. I think it was probably their only effort in the second half and we never defended it, which was a surprise because we have been defending set-pieces well.”
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell did not feel Celtic should have had a second penalty after Calum Butcher was penalised for holding Mikey Johnston.
Kettlewell attended a meeting with the Scottish Football Association’s referees department on Thursday where it was explained that such incidents would only be punished if the attacking player has a chance of getting on the ball.
He said: “If the officials are telling me something when I go and sit for two-and-a-half hours with chief executives and managers when that exact incident came up in one of the clips and there were conversations around whether the player was going to get on the end of it and whether every contact in the box is a penalty.
“From the angle I’ve seen Calum Butcher is adamant he didn’t pull the jersey. His palm is resting on the waist.
“The guys from Celtic will maybe think it’s justified, but I think it’s incredibly soft.”
It was only Motherwell’s third point from 10 games and Kettlewell said: “It indicates to everyone how together we are as a football club and a group of players. They gave us absolutely everything out there.
“A lot of people will say we should be looking to be more progressive and to create more chances in the game. Well, that was everything that I asked of the players.
“Of course we want to try to win games, but to concede that second penalty and go behind we showed brilliant personality and character to get ourselves back into the game.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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