Former Celtic striker Scott McDonald helped sell Motherwell frontman Apostolos Stamatelopoulos on a move to the Scottish Premiership.
And Hoops fans will be glad the Aussie did so after Stamatelopolous netted in the Steelmen’s 2-2 draw with Rangers yesterday.
The 25-year-old opened the scoring early doors, latching onto a loose ball in behind the Gers backline and finishing low and to Jack Butland’s left. Tawanda Maswanhise made it 2-0 just under 20 minutes later.
Despite a second-half fightback from the Ibrox club, which earned them a 2-2 draw, Celtic still extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 14 points.
They can thank Stamatelopoulos for helping them do so and McDonald for encouraging him to move to Scotland in the summer.
Indeed, the ‘Well striker recently explained McDondald’s role in his transfer: “I looked at what Scott did here before I came,” he said (RecordSport).
“He’s a guy I played alongside in Australia for a year and when this move came about, I chatted to him about it.
“He told me to get across here because it would suit my game. I’m getting there. It has been good so far but definitely different to what I’m used to.”
McDonald, of course, played with Motherwell for a few years before joining Celtic in the summer of 2007 for a little under £1m (Transfermarkt).
He scored 59 goals in 121 appearances for the Hoops, working out an average of around one every other game. The now 41-year-old netted a good few against Rangers and, most notably, a late winner against then-European champions AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League.
If Stamatelopoulos becomes a consistent goalscorer for Motherwell, he could follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman.
