It’s been a fantastic day in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic. Not only did the Bhoys pick up all three points away to Motherwell, but closest rivals St Mirren and Rangers both failed to win their own matches.
In fact, the Ibrox side lost at home to Aberdeen and the reigning champions now sit seven points ahead of Michael Beale’s outfit.
Brendan Rodgers was understandably delighted with his own team’s contribution to the day’s football action. And he reckons Celtic’s late win is simply another sign of the history that weaves its way through the club.
His message to the squad was a stirring one in the wake of Matt O’Riley’s superb stoppage-time winner, which came seconds after it looked like Motherwell had equalised the game with their own late goal.
Rodgers said in his post-match interview [The Scotsman]: “I was here a few years back when we won late on with Tom Rogic. I thought that was probably as close as we’d get to win a game late on. It was a great response by the players. Incredible mentality. I said to them afterwards that this club’s history is built on many late goals. That’s what Celtic does.
“You have to keep going right to the death. That’s what my teams have always done. That’s what Celtic does. You still need the players to deliver and play with that calmness. You’ve got to keep believing you’ll get something from the game. We didn’t start lumping it into the box. We just worked our way up the pitch. But you have to have that will and desire to keep going.
“Once they equalised, we stayed calm and waited for that moment. It was a fantastic finish off his [O’Riley’s] right side. I’m absolutely delighted for the players. They give so much to the game and they deserved the three points.”
Credit to the manager for keeping his team on the right track. When Celtic went out of the League Cup, many worried about what was ahead. But Rodgers has delivered some massive away wins since then.
Late goals, strong mentality, patience and skill. None of this is by accident. Now we see what the Bhoys can do in Europe on Wednesday night.
In other news, Lazio suffer Saturday blow ahead of Celtic Park trip.
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