Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been giving his reaction to the Bhoys’ 5-2 victory against Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup.
Falkirk turned up hoping to shock the home side and took the lead twice in the encounter, but goals from Paulo Bernardo, Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn eventually punished the visitors.
It was a thrilling cup tie. The attitude and belief Falkirk showed in the early stages ensured that. They deserve credit for giving Celtic a tough game for an hour of the match – tougher than anyone else so far this season.
Brendan Rodgers was quick to emphasise that in his post-match interview with BBC Radio Scotland, also lauding the game changers who ultimately powered their team through to a semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden.
Brendan Rodgers has his say on Celtic vs Falkirk
The Celtic manager said: “I was really pleased. Firstly big credit to my players because they had to take on the risk in the game in relation to making so many changes.
“We wanted fresh legs but of course the risk with that is you lose a little bit of connection and fluidity. I felt that was the case for the first hour.
“I give big, big credit to Falkirk as well. I thought they played so, so well in the game and you can see why they have done so well over the last 15 months.
“They played a really fantastic game, building up from behind, playing through the phases and they’ve got good, technical players who can give you a problem.
“If there’s any blame on the performance of the first hour then it’s on me, it’s not on the players. I make eight changes and there’s going to be a bit of disconnection. But we bring on the guys who have been playing and have been working so then we can create goals and score goals.”
Nicolas Kuhn lauded by Celtic boss
Kuhn was a real bright spark coming into the game as a substitute, scoring twice and assisting twice to turn the game on its head from a goal down.
Rodgers is delighted with his progress.
He said: “You’ve got to give immense credit to the player. He’s developing really well. He’s scoring goals and creating goals.
“What’s been really good about his game is his pressing element. You see when we get the second goal, straight away after it, he presses it really well and sets us up for the third goal.
“Overall, two goals and two assists. He had a great impact.”
Kuhn now has five goals and six assists in eight matches this season and has rapidly become one of the most important players in the entire team. There’s more to come, too.
Overall, today can be viewed as a good job done by Celtic. For 60 minutes it was all looking a bit ropey but the big stars persevered in the end to continue the team’s 100% start to the season in all competitions – you can’t ask for much more than that.
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