Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart has accepted responsibility for Feyenoord’s opening goal on Tuesday night.
Brendan Rodgers‘ Hoops had competed well in the first half at De Kuip, arguably creating the clearer openings. However, the first goal went the hosts’ way right on the brink of half-time through Calvin Stengs.
The Dutch winger’s free-kick flew through the Celtic wall and skidded off the slick surface past Hart. It wasn’t a good goal to concede at any time, never mind in a tight Champions League clash. It proved to be a costly error with the Eredivisie side going on to win 2-0.
Speaking after the game, the former England international admitted he should have done better.
“There were a few factors at the free-kick, but I’ll look at my position,” he said, as reported by The Herald.
“As the keeper, I want to be saving those. The ball skipped up, it was curling away. A guy ran across Kyogo in the wall and it affected him. It was a perfect storm for them and it went in. But I’ll look at myself, I always do that because I want to save everything.
“At Champions League level, you have to be honest. With any free-kick, you have to wait until it goes over the wall because it can skip off a shoulder. But it cuts down your reaction time.
“I’m not making excuses, that’s facts. That’s the level we’re at and I didn’t manage to get across to it.”
Hart is right to suggest that he should have done better. Watching the footage back, he takes far too long to get across to his left, even allowing for the ball to go past the wall.
That is one obvious fault. Another is the wall not doing its job, and allowing the strike to pass through so easily. Matt O’Riley, Liam Scales and Gustaf Lagerbielke were all stationed in the setup, but so was Kyogo Furuhashi, a much smaller player, who the ball got past.
Speaking at his media conference, manager Rodgers revealed that a decision to change the wall had been made during the first half. It had also been spoken about post-match in the Celtic dressing room.
“We talked about it inside,” Rodgers said. “I like the players to make decisions and there was a decision [made] in-game to change the wall, thinking that something else might happen.
“But you have to then make sure that the wall is correct, otherwise you get done. It’s a very small detail but if you don’t look after it you end up conceding. (Scottish Football Podcast)
In other news, 3 things we learned as Celtic lose to Feyenoord
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