Gary Hooper’s late goal fired Celtic into second place in the Scottish Premier League as the Hoops snatched a 2-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park yesterday.

Neil Lennon’s side have struggled to stay in touch with leaders Rangers and they looked set to squander more points heading into the last 10 minutes, but Hooper popped up with a clinical winner that lifted Celtic above their opponents in the table.

Motherwell, who had defender Tim Clancey sent off in the final moments, had taken the lead through Michael Higdon’s early opener.

But Anthony Stokes levelled soon after and Celtic finally found enough momentum to secure a win that left them 12 points behind Rangers, with one game in hand on their Glasgow rivals.

With the match tied at one-all, Lennon sent on Paddy McCourt for Georgios Samaras as Celtic pushed forward in search of the winner.

And in the 80th minute, McCourt caused chaos as he dribbled to the edge of the area and played in Stokes, who drove the ball across goal for Hooper to knock in from almost on the line.