It was a delighted Brendan Rodgers who spoke to the media at Pittodrie late last night after his side secured all three points to extent the lead at the top of the league to seven points with a game in hand over Aberdeen…
“Under these circumstances, the conditions were awful for the players to play in. I think you see by sticking to our principles and how we play, that’s where the winning goal came from. The first half, we had comfort in the game.
“We took the ball through into the final third, but I think a couple of times we meant to make that final pass and then the ball ran away and the wind took it away. So we didn’t quite make those passes at the end of our build-up play. And in our counter-pressing, we needed to close the space a wee bit quicker because there were a couple of moments on the break.
“But the second half, we were much better, dominated the game, controlled the game. Anything that didn’t get played forward, we were there. And it was just a case of sticking to how we play and what we know. And then obviously, that’s where the goal comes from. A fantastic team move, a great pass by Greg Taylor and a wonderful finish. And yeah, we deserved to win the game,” the Celtic manager said.
Brendan also praised his players attitude and for their impressive mental strength amid the terrible playing conditions at a wet, windy and freezing cold Pittodrie.
“It was always going to be that. We had to showcase our attitude and mentality and everything we were saying before the game. This is your body language. This is everything. You’re way up in the north of Scotland. It’s the rain, the wind is pouring in.
“Our supporters are stuck in a corner with no cover and we have to do it for them, do it for ourselves. The players show great mentality and great bravery to still try to play how we want to play. Eventually, we’ll get a reward for that,” Rodgers noted.
Brendan also spoke about the implications of the result as his side widened the gap on Aberdeen to seven points with a game in hand, quite remarkable given that only Celtic’s superior goal difference separated the top two under a fortnight ago. The result from Ibrox – theRangers beating Kilmarnock 6-0 means that, as things stand, the race for second spot is much closer than first and second.
“It’s still so early, 14 games. So there’s only just over a third of the season gone. But I think I said the other day that if we can get to seven points clear with a game in hand then we’re in a really, really good place. But still such a long way to go.
Celtic’s winner came from Reo Hatate, who has been frustrated with his own form recently and hopefully ended that little spell with his magical moment of sheer class as he linked with Greg Taylor to score the only goal of the game.
“It was a great team move and a wonderful pass when you track Greg’s movement and where he ended up. And then to make that decisive pass. Reo, he broke the line, timed his run perfectly and it was a really, really good finish,” Brendan said.
He added: “We were unlucky with one or two other moments. They defended the box really well. Young Ross Doohan makes a great save from Adam Idah, which looked as if it was in all the way. But we kept persevering, and we’ve got a reward in the end.
“We’ve gone to Hearts and won and come here. These are tough venues. They’re all tough venues in this league. And after our semi-final, we expected Aberdeen to be aggressive and to be strong and to be there. So we knew that the game would maybe have to go into the final half-hour, but we had to keep working the ball, keep moving them around, try to tire them out and wait for the right moments.
“But to come here, you’ll feel the night as well. It’s a horrendous night for football. So to come here and get that victory is a great credit to the players.
Brendan was asked about his substitution at half-time and confirmed that Alex Valle was removed for tactical reasons rather than through picking up a knock. The youngster from Barcelona got a real taste of the hostile Scottish weather and picked up a booking for nothing at all really as Aberdeen forward Duk justed seemed to fall over all night long.
Don Robertson was happy to oblige on this occasion, with the irony being that the enforced Celtic changed resulted in the winning goal. A nice little piece of karma there.
Brendan explained the half-time change: “He was on a booking and we just needed it to be a little cleaner through because of how they were pressing. We wanted Greg’s quality on the inside to come out. Alex was on a booking and he was playing more on the outside because he’s dynamic. He wants to run, but our space was on the inside. So it was more tactical than an injury He’s fine.”
There was also praise from the Celtic manager for the to central defenders after he was asked about Cameron Carter-Vickers’ brilliant block to deny Aberdeen what looked like a certain late equaliser.
“I thought the two centre halves were really strong. It’s what you want. You’ve got to stand up and be counted on nights like that when it’s not perfect and you know when you’re one-nil up late in the game that you’re going to have to be able to do that. I thought Kasper Schmeichel’s handling was so clean and pure in the game. That was great.
“The two centre halves were strong. Anything in the box, they were there blocking it. That’s what you need. We’ve played some brilliant football this season, and scored lots of goals but the bedrock of everything is how we press and how we defend. You’ve seen that mentality to defend tonight.
The Celtic manager added: “It’s very, very difficult to have some of the games that you’ve seen this year and how we played. But you’ve got to come away here and our ambition always is to win.
“So to come here when you knew it was going to be tough and to get the result and score the type of goal that we did was absolutely brilliant. It was so pleasing. I’m really happy for the players because their ambition in the game, their hunger in the game is there. They kept pushing and eventually got their rewards.”
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