The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Skipper hails Celts’ European progress
Adventure continues despite defeat to Belgians
CELTIC 0 ANDERLECHT 1
Captain Scott Brown thought Celtic dug deep as they qualified for the Europa League, despite a frustrating 1-0 defeat in their final Champions League Group B tie at home to Anderlecht.
The visitors broke the deadlock after 62 minutes as Dennis Appiah picked out Pieter Gerkens with a cross in the centre of the box and he headed home – with a touch off Hoops defender Jozo Simunovic – to hand the visitors the lead.
Anderlecht captain Sofiane Hanni tested goalkeeper Craig Gordon as the half wore on, moments after a chance at the other end from Mikael Lustig but the match at Parkhead was to end with just one goal in it.
Brown told BT Sport: “We knew what we had to do and had to dig deep at some point and we managed to get through to the Europa League and that was our aim at the start.”
Brown, when asked if it had been a bit of a frustrating night, said: “Yes, a little bit. The first half especially, we didn’t manage to keep the ball.
“They played their formation and kept the ball really well and were very, very patient and looked like they were the team that was going to score a goal in the first half.
“We still tried to play our normal game and play out from the back.
“They pressed us really high up the park and put us under a lot of pressure.”
Goalkeeper Gordon was delighted to keep his team in the game with an early fine save from midfielder Sven Kums, who blasted in a cut-back from Henry Onyekuru.
He said: “It was one of my first touches in the game. It was a great start from them in the game where we didn’t get many touches of the ball.
“They found themselves a big chance against us inside the first couple of minutes and I’ve thankfully come up with a big save.
“Sometimes, in a game like this, when there’s not a lot to lose and maybe people don’t want to make mistakes, it’s a bit more difficult to take the ball under pressure – but we’ve got to learn from that and be able to do it.”
Boss Brendan Rodgers admitted his delight that they will be playing in the Europa League.
He said: “For some of our players this was a good game because I think some of them think they’re Champions League players. So this is a good level for some of those guys
to reflect on their performance. The beauty of this is, we’ve closed the campaign, we’ve qualified.
“We were fourth seeds in this group, we’ve got to the Europa League which is absolutely brilliant for us and we’ve got a few months to put in a lot of work and hopefully be better when the draw comes around and when we play in February.
“For us, it’s a big achievement to get through and the representation for Scottish football is very important in this next level of competition.” Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia). Attendance: 57,931. Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Boyata, Simunovic, Tierney, Forrest, Brown, Armstrong (Ntcham 45), Sinclair (Rogic 45), McGregor, Dembele (Edouard 74). Subs Not Used – De Vries, Bitton, Griffiths, Ajer. Booked – Ntcham.