Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Tierney praises positive Hoops
KIERAN Tierney i nsists Celtic’s positivity helped them bounce back from their European exit i n Russia with a crucial 2-0 win at Aberdeen.
The Hoops were bundled out of the Europa League at the last-32 stage on Thursday night by Zenit St Petersburg after a 3-0 defeat.
Brendan Rodgers’ side arrived back in Glasgow on Friday to start preparing for a trip to Pittodrie and saw their lead at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership reduced to six points by Rangers on Saturday following the Light Blues’ 2-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox.
However, there was no hint of any pressure or fatigue within the Parkhead side. Striker Moussa Dembele headed the visitors into the lead in the 37th minute and Tierney clinched the points late on with fine strike following a breakaway.
The match ended 10-a-side after Hoops defender Mikael Lustig and Dons debutant substitute Sam Cosgrove both saw red in separate incidents.
“We are always positive about it,” said 20-year-old l e f t - b a ck T i e r n ey, w h o admitted it had been “great” to celebrate his goal in front of the Celtic fans.
“That’s how it is at Celtic. You are always going to have games, games, games and we dealt with it great.
“It is a tough place to go but we got the win and clean sheet so we are happy.
“If it sends out a message, it does, but we are not concentrating on that, we are concentrating on ourselves, we went there and got the performance and result we wanted.”
Aberdeen have lost their last 10 games against Celtic and boss Derek McInnes said: “It is not a stat we are proud of but it was common for a while.
“We have beaten Celtic previously but we haven’t managed it i n t he l ast couple of seasons.
“We are now against Celtic.” judged