Celtic threw the gauntlet down to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership title race after they came from behind to beat 10-player Motherwell 3-1 at Celtic Park.

Derek McInnes takes his league leaders to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock later on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, which gave Celtic the chance to close the gap, at least temporarily, to two points at the top but they were made to work for the win by a determined Motherwell side.

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Elijah Just's goal shortly after the half-hour mark silenced the home support before a Hyun-Jun Yang double either side of a Tomas Cvancara penalty in the second half set the home side on their way to three points.

Motherwell had dominated possession in the first half but that grip on the game fell away at the start of the second as Celtic found another gear.

Emmanuel Longelo's sending-off as the hosts were awarded that penalty made the visitors' task all the harder, with Jens Berthel Askou's side falling to their second defeat in a row.

The visitors made just one change to the side that lost 2-1 to Dundee last week with Celtic loanee Stephen Welsh unavailable to play against his parent club, and they started the brighter, keeping the ball from their opponents for long spells.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was shown an early yellow card for a late foul on Just, which Well boss Jens Berthel Askou questioned after the match, suggesting it could have been red for the former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder.

However, it was Celtic who had the better of the early chances. Benjamin Nygren should have done better after Longelo failed to deal with a long ball into the box but the Swedish forward couldn't get a clean shot away.

Sebastian Tounekti then curled an effort just wide before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's effort from range was pushed on to the post by Calum Ward, with the ball rolling along the Motherwell goal line and somehow staying out.

Benjamin Arthur was next to go close for the hosts as he met Nygren's corner but his header skimmed the roof of the net as it went over the bar.

Despite that period of pressure, it was Motherwell who took the lead. Reo Hatate was caught dawdling in possession in his own box by Elliot Watt who pushed the ball to Callum Slattery who fed in Just, with the Well midfielder smashing a low effort past Viljami Sinisalo.

The hosts didn't have to wait long to get back on level terms, however. This time it was Motherwell who were guilty of trying to take too many touches in a dangerous area, with Nygren winning the ball in the Motherwell half and driving for the byline, with Ward punching his cutback out to the waiting Yang who fired into the corner.

Slattery had a couple of chances to put Motherwell back in front before the break, but it was Celtic who came out firing after the interval following the introduction of Cvancara for Tounekti.

Celtic were immediately on the front foot but just couldn't find that killer shot or pass to trouble Ward, with Ibrahim Said then forcing a good save from Sinisalo.

Nygren then thought he had given his side the lead but his deflected effort from the edge of the box smashed off the post, much to Ward's relief, before the Premiership's top scorer Tawanda Maswanhise fired a curling effort just wide.

The turning point in the game came after 68 minutes when Longelo tangled with Daizen Maeda at the back post following a Celtic corner. Referee John Beaton was well-placed and originally gave a goal kick before being called over to the monitor by VAR Kevin Clancy to review the incident.

A penalty was awarded with a stunned Longelo awarded a red card for his troubles, allowing Cvancara to send Ward the wrong way from 12 yards.

Celtic put the game out of sight with a little over 10 minutes remaining when Yang got on the end of a long ball over the top to finish smartly past Ward and put all the pressure on leaders Hearts later on Saturday, and Old Firm rivals Rangers, who travel to St Mirren on Sunday.

O'Neill delighted with Celtic spirit

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill to Sky Sports:

"I'm delighted with the team, the spirit they have shown and delighted with the way in which we played. It was great. We have come from a goal behind to win this game, it was a big, big win for us today.

"Motherwell are a really fine footballing side. We knew there were going to be times during the course of the game where we would have to play without the ball and we'd have to try to do that as best we could and then use it as best we could when we had it, and there were some magnificent individual performances there. I'm delighted to have won.

"We deserved to win the game but, as I said, we had to fight back and today, considering the sort of pressure that is on, I thought the team was fantastic.

"It was a really great game and Motherwell played their part in that, there's no question about that. I knew it was going to be very open, so you had to take your chances. We gifted them a goal, that's one of the things you don't want to be doing and then it's a long way back and you are having to fight back.

"There are a lot of new players here, not only from the January window but from August time, but there are some big winners in the dressing room and that's very important as well.

"We're chasing and we keep ourselves going. Regardless of what happens in the next couple of months, the players have shown this determination to try and fight back and try and keep the championship in which, generally speaking, the last couple of years, they might have been about 15 points clear at this stage, and it has just been a fight the whole way through, all season."

Askou: Penalty was fair but Oxlade-Chamberlain could have been sent off

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou to Sky Sports:

"The team performance was very good, in so many ways. We had more control here and dominance than we had last time we were here and, even with 10 men at the end, we tried to push and press and play and tried to get something out of it.

"The third goal killed us in terms of having a really good opportunity to get something out of the game, but the effort, the bravery, the intent, how to control the different spells when they equalise in the first half and the whole stadium falls down around you...

"We are ready to give the game the final push and go for it when the game is at least made very much more difficult for us to win when the referee gives a penalty and sends Manny [Emmanuel Longelo] off.

"If Manny doesn't get hold of him he [Daizen Maeda] will get the ball. I've seen Maeda score from there and I've also seen him miss. But obviously it's a big opportunity and a clear goalscoring opportunity so I can't argue against that and obviously it's a sore one to take in a spell in the game where we were in good control and ready to push. We had to regroup a bit and see if we could find something that could hurt them, but obviously it became difficult.

"In a game like this that is so tight between two teams who are investing a lot in winning it, creating a great football game to watch, you need some of the 50-50 moments to go your way and I think the tackle Elijah [Just] received in the beginning of the game [from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was booked] - I've seen that turn into a red card more often and it didn't. Sometimes you need these little things to go your way.

"The game itself was a great commercial for the top of Scottish football, which is what you want to see, compared to what you saw last week. I think we have built, we have reached the level. We still have plenty of games and plenty of points to chase and we will keep doing that and we will see where that leads us."

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