Brendan Rodgers rues ‘careless’ Celtic as dramatic draw with Aberdeen ‘feels like a defeat’

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Brendan Rodgers said Celtic failed to win against Aberdeen due to carelessness, particularly in the second-half.

In a barnstorming encounter between the two top sides in the Premiership, the Hoops were cruising at the interval with a 2-0 advantage.

But Aberdeen fought back into the clash brilliantly as the Hoops crumbled in an error-strewn start to the second period.

Celtic dominated the end of the game and had Aberdeen camped in their own half. But the immense pressure did not pay off despite numerous shots at goal which were either saved, blocked on the line or blazed over the bar.

With the efforts Celtic had on goal, it should have been all three points for the home side but in the end, the team’s 100 percent record in the league came to a halt.

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Rodgers on ‘careless’ Celtic performance

Rodgers lamented Celtic’s sloppy second-half display to BBC Sportsound after the game and said the point feels like a loss.

He said: “We are disappointed. We had a good control of the game in the first half. We could have had more goals. We get punished for a really careless period.

“We were not aggressive enough. If you don’t press well, you are always susceptible to that pass in behind. The second one is careless, we give it away in a really poor area.

“We found our rhythm again. I think it was 32 shots. A mixture of some really good defending and great saves from the goalkeeper meant we could not find the winner.

“We have to learn from that period in the game because we were careless. We should win the game today, there’s absolutely no doubt about that. It feels like a defeat, especially at Celtic Park.

“Once they get the first goal, it gives them that belief and then we just couldn’t find the killer instinct in that last 15 minutes or so.”

Celtic boss looks ahead to Atalanta test

Rodgers continued as he touched on the challenge that Italian side Atalanta will pose in the Champions League this coming week.

He warned: “We certainly can’t play like we did and be careless with the ball. We’ve already seen that if you don’t have compactness or tightness off the ball, you’ll be heavily punished in the Champions League, we’ve already seen that.

“But games like today, coming back, I knew we weren’t going to be perfect. I said that before the game with guys travelling all around the world and a lot of miles in their legs.

“But I still expect us to be better and we will be. It always feels bad when you do drop points but I give credit to the team to keep going and I give credit to Aberdeen because they fought back from being 2-0 down.”