It was a performance and a victory that sets Celtic up for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off on Tuesday night in Munich. Here’s everything that Brendan Rodgers said to Celtic TV after the win over Dundee United that increased Celtic’s lead over theRangers to 16 points ahead of their game at Tynecastle on Sunday afternoon…
“I think, firstly, the attitude in the game was very good. So right from the off, we were looking to impose ourselves in the game. And I thought the quality of our football, the pitch is very, very difficult, as people can see. But I thought the level and some of our play was so, so good. And yes, just work rate, quality, mentality, really, really professional performance.
“Yes, well, all his goals have been absolutely superb this season. I’ve said to him there, that’s like a rollback to when I was first here, because he used to be higher up the pitch, dribble inside, and it was a bit of individual brilliance, really, that gets us on the way. He nearly got a second one, Cal, just coming in off the other side and nearly scored. But no, he was instrumental to everything today and gets us off to a really good start.”
“Yes, it’s really nice. Jeffrey opens up the space for it to go outside, then he makes a really good run that clears the space inside, and then it’s a wonderful finish. Everyone in the stadium has seen his quality before, so it’s really good that he’s getting back to getting that feeling of scoring goals and working hard.”
“Yes, he worked very, very hard, Adam. Greg was unlucky, I thought the goalkeeper made a really good save from his strike. Then the ball comes out, Tony’s there to counter-press the game, the cross goes out and then Adam’s first touch gets away from him a little bit, but his finish was absolutely superb. He really deserved that because he worked ever so hard.”
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I think the mentality of this team has been relentless all season. And obviously, after a tough game, and Dundee United coming here and fresh, having not played for a while, I thought the performance level was really good. So, we get back in, recover tomorrow and prepare now. It’s a really exciting game for us on Tuesday and we go in with a good feeling.”
