Rodgers praises Dembele double as Celtic rock City
French striker bullied defenders in thriller, says Parkhead manager
BRENDAN RODGERS last night hailed his striker Moussa Dembele for the way he “bullied” the Manchester City defence in their six-goal Champions League thriller at Parkhead.
Dembele scored twice, including a stunning overhead kick in the first minute of the second half, as Celtic drew 3-3 with English rivals City in their second Group C match.
The Scottish champions took the lead three times – despite their opponents having not once fallen behind in the 10 matches they have played in all competitions so far this season.
The Glasgow club also prevented the visitors from winning their 11th consecutive match in the 2016/17 campaign at the end of an incredible 90 minutes in front of 57,592 fans at Celtic Park.
Rodgers admitted that he was disappointed with the three goals Celtic had conceded to Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Nolito and stressed they can perform better in future.
However, the Irishman admitted that he had been delighted with how they had played and with how Dembele, a £500,000 signing from Fulham in the summer who took his tally for this term to 12, had acquitted himself in particular.
“We’re very fortunate to have Moussa,” he said. “He was coveted by a number of teams before coming to us.
“He was terrific tonight, but he’s been like that since he’s come in to the club.
“I thought he really bullied the back four of Manchester City. But then he’s more than that. He showed he has a wonderful touch and agility for the third goal. Overall he showed his power and pace. He’s a huge talent and was outstanding tonight.”
Rodgers added: “We were disappointed with the goals we conceded. We can analyse all three and do better.
“They had a wee bit of luck on the first one, but the other two we can do better on.
“Apart from that, the performance was absolutely outstanding. At this level, to perform like that, the players deserve a great amount of credit.
“Collectively we were very good; how we pressed the game. If you are not organised tactically against this team, as we’ve seen in many Premier League games, they can really hurt you.
“This was a big performance from us and I’m sure Pep [City manager Guardiola] will recognise it was a difficult night for them. They will be happy with the point. For me it was another big step forward in terms of our improvement as a team. The players were outstanding.
“I’m very pleased we got something from the game. Naturally, I feel we should have won the game, but it’s a good step forward for us. I haven’t even thought about what it means going forward, to be honest. This was a big performance from the team and will give them great confidence.”
Rodgers, whose Celtic side had been thrashed 7-0 by Barcelona in the Camp Nou in their first Group C game a fortnight ago, expressed the hope that the result had restored some pride.
“Manchester City have travelled around the Premier League and absolutely destroyed teams,” he said. “Hopefully our performance tonight shows this is a huge club, one of the biggest in the world. There should be a huge pat on the back for the club, the atmosphere and of course for the players.”
Guardiola, whose team fell two points behind Barcelona – who came from a goal down away to Borussia Moenchengladbach to win 2-1 – in Group C as a result of the draw, expressed the hope that his City side would learn from the experience and be better in the future as a result of it.
“It is a good lesson about how important it is to start well,” he said. “We created many, many chances. We created enough to win the game. When the other team on the park is the Celtic of Glasgow you realise how tough it is going to be to qualify.
“It is not easy to go behind. It is a shock to go behind after two minutes. It will be a good lesson. It shows the players that Europe is so, so strong. The environment at Celtic and the fans are amazing and we knew that.
“Dembele is strong in the air, they won all the second balls, we had problems controlling that.
“But we adjusted well at halftime. In the last half hour we had many, many chances to win the game. We scored three goals away from home in Europe and we didn’t win.”