Brendan Rodgers believes that his Celtic team have learned their lesson from their slack performance against Aberdeen…
The Scottish Champions drew against the Pittodrie outfit in the League two weekends ago at Celtic Park, keeping the teams separated by just goal difference.
“We got punished for our slackness”
Speaking to Celtic TV, Rodgers remarked that his side used the draw as a learning experience, which helped them deliver impressive performances against Atalanta and Motherwell.
“In the Aberdeen game we got punished for our slackness. We were 2-0 up in the game and we weren’t really at our best, even in the first half but we were 2-0 up with more chances. First twenty minutes (second half) we started slack and we were punished.
“Really really pleasing”
“That is a great lesson for us. We should go on and win the game, but we don’t. So we take a point, learn from it and move on. That’s what the players have done with a great away performance in Atalanta, come back and go to a notoriously difficult place to go and to put in a performance like that with the quality, is really really pleasing.”
Celtic were 2-0 up at the break and spurned opportunities to extend their lead. It would prove to be costly as Aberdeen got themselves back level, setting up a tense final few minutes at Celtic Park. Brendan’s side were unable to get a winner.
Two clean sheets on the bounce
Celtic were defensively robust against Atalanta, stopping the free-scoring Serie A side from really troubling Kasper Schmeichel’s goal. This was a bit of a change from the weekend before as Aberdeen carved some neat openings and got in behind Celtic’s backline, allowing them to score twice. Two clean sheets on the bounce will have pleased the manager but the defensive unit has improved with the return to action of Cameron Carter-Vickers, who came off the bench in the win over Motherwell.
Celtic host Dundee on Wednesday night while Aberdeen host third-placed theRangers at Pittodrie. The game in the Granite City is a win-win for Celtic, provided that we get our business done against Tony Docherty’s side.