BRENDAN SHOWS STEVIE WHO’S BOSS
Rodgers’ Bhoys hand Gerrard his first defeat in 13 games since taking charge at ibrox
BRENDAN RODGERS believes Celtic’s derby-day win against Rangers yesterday proves the champions are already over Moussa Dembele.
The Celtic manager had to hold crisis talks with his players on Friday afternoon after a sulking Dembele was sold to Lyon in a £20million move.
Rodgers was concerned that the morale of his squad might be
progressed they carved Rangers open, their nimble footwork and speed of thought so bewitching it also drew Arfield over to cover and cost Gerrard’s side their most likely launchpad into attack.
An inswinging free-kick from namesake Callum McGregor on the right after Ejaria had clipped the heels of Rogic was punched out by the Ibrox No.1.
Ntcham and Brown were peerless, revelling in the space in and around the halfway line to pick passes as McGregor increasingly stood as a one-man monument between his side and a battering.
He might not even have been on the pitch to make half a dozen stunning stops had assistant Frank Connor not missed a fly donkey kick at Ajer that merited action, even if the Norwegian milked the incident.
McGregor had previously punched a free-kick from namesake Callum and blocked a similar set-piece by Ntcham, although he knew nothing about a magnificent Forrest volley that clipped Jack and bounced off the top of the bar.
From the resulting corner Lustig nodded against the face of the woodwork while McGregor also knocked a stunning shot from Ntcham on to the bar early in the second half after denying Edouard’s pointblank header when the striker sneaked off the shoulder of Nikola Katic.
Rangers may have responded to the opener – Dedryck Boyata stood tall in particular – but Celtic still looked most dangerous, pressing constantly to unsettle Connor Goldson and Co.
Lustig flashed a header inches wide, subtitute Leigh Griffiths fired an effort off the post and also had a ferocious free-kick beaten away by McGregor. Winds of change in Scottish football, when they come, arrive at hurricane force. From Celtic’s point of view, this was something of a breeze. FROM BACK PAGE impacted by the deadline-day drama. But, in a timely show of unity, the champions put on their best performance of the new season to beat their city rivals 1-0.
Rodgers said: “You have to park all the other stuff that was going on. After it all happened I pulled my senior players into the office and explained exactly where we were at. They respected it.
“I think you see in the performance today the spirit of the team as well as the quality. It can be an exciting season for us again but we deserve a rest now and then come back to try to push on between now and Christmas.”
Rodgers though remains bitterly disappointed by Dembele’s actions. He said: “I’ll say a bit on it and then that will be it because it’s obviously been very much one way.
“I had a really close relationship with Moussa. I enticed him to come CELTIC v RANGERS 57% POSSESSION 43% 9 SHOTS ON TARGET 2 7 SHOTS OFF TARGET 4 CORNERS FOULS YELLOW CARDS here with a plan going forward. He was desperate for the move of course. We wanted to try to keep him because we didn’t have another option.
“But then a line was overstepped from a behaviour perspective. I’ve been in this situation enough times to know whether you can pull it back or not.
“Like I say, I needed to speak to Moussa. I had a few other senior members of my staff with me.
“I just asked him, ‘Can you tell the guys and me in the room here that you received promises from me or any member of Celtic?’.
“He very clearly and categorically said, ‘No’. Once he said that, it was fine. I said, ‘You can now go, if you can get the move’.”
Steven Gerrard claimed Willie Collum made a decisive blunder in the build-up to Olivier Ntcham’s goal when he failed to blow for a foul on Rangers’ Ryan Jack.
But Rodgers said: “I didn’t see it as a foul. The ball came out the box and both of them come together. What’s most important is the ref was right on the spot. So he sees it.”