Rodgers salutes ‘brilliant’ Celtic night
Celtic will take a 1-0 advantage to Russia next week after Callum McGregor earned a narrow Europa League win over Zenit St Petersburg last night.
The first leg of the roundof-32 clash appeared to be heading for a stalemate. But, on 78 minutes, McGregor took Charly Musonda’s lofted cross on his chest and sent a halfvolley in off the bar.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers told BT Sport 2: “I thought it was a brilliant performance from start to finish, a very mature performance.
“They’ve shown the personality and development of the team by keeping a clean sheet.
“I’m very proud of the team, but we’re only halfway there.”
Rodgers, whose side dropped out of the Champions League after finishing behind Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, added: “That level of opponent we have come up against the last couple of years, it really tests you to the limit. “Defensively, we were very strong. We showed a great calmness with the ball and everyone contributed.” On-loan Chelsea starlet Musonda was introduced after 73 minutes and his vision that gave McGregor the opportunity to nudge Celtic ahead in the tie.
Rodgers said: “Charly’s a dribbler. He can stay on the ball and took us out of pressure. He was very good when he came on.
“But it was very much a team performance and a very good result for us. It was going to be two difficult games, but we’ve given ourselves a wonderful opportunity.
“It sets it up pretty well.”