‘Bandwagon jumping’ – Celtic star defended after Bayern Munich backlash pile on

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic did what they had to do by keeping their Champions League tie with Bayern Munich alive after Wednesday’s first-leg.

That was the bare minimum for Brendan Rodgers‘ side as they narrowly lost 2-1 to Bayern with Daizen Maeda’s goal ensuring they are still in with a shout next week at the Allianz Arena.

It was a brave performance from the Hoops who pushed hard to nab an equaliser late on, only to find Manuel Neuer in the way on more than one occasion.

In attack it was a decent showing but in defence the Scottish giants were hassled throughout with Vincent Kompany’s side keeping Celts on their toes.

Greg Taylor was criticised by fans for his hand in Michael Olise’s opener just before the break as his powderpuff tackle was not strong enough.

But former defender Mark Wilson had plenty of sympathy for the 27-year-old and explained exactly why on Superscoreboard.

• READ MORE: Celtic dealt bleak setback as Brendan Rodgers confirms Paulo Bernardo injury timeline

Mark Wilson backed Greg Taylor after Celtic’s Bayern loss

“I think there’s a lot of bandwagon jumping with Greg Taylor,” Wilson said.

“I listened to some of the comments last night at half-time from people saying, ‘He should have done this for the goal’.

“Then you go on social media and there’s an absolute pile on.

“There’s no doubt that Greg Taylor gave the ball away from time to time but you have to take into consideration as well, who he’s up against, the press he’s up against, where he was receiving it every time from Trusty.

“On the touchline with very few options.

“So it was maybe not his best game in possession but defensively, what more could he have done for that goal?”

Greg Taylor’s contract situation, summer plans

Celtic’s Taylor has had his abilities questioned in recent times.

And it comes ahead of Kieran Tierney’s arrival in the summer after Arsenal refused to let him leave in January.

Jeffrey Schlupp joined Celts on deadline day to compete at left-back with GT3.

The Ghana international came off the bench for Taylor vs Bayern and did well.

He could now be in contention for this weekend’s clash against Dundee United.

Taylor, meanwhile, is a Dinamo transfer target for a pre-contract. The full-back is out of a deal in Glasgow in five months’ time.