ANGE FORGIVES JOSIP’S MIX-UP
Celtic 2 Motherwell 1
BY DAVID MCCARTHY ANGE POSTECOGLOU refused to blame Josip Juranovic and Joe Hart for the mix-up that could have cost Celtic victory in yesterday’s win over Motherwell - because they’re human beings rather than FIFA 23 stars.
The Celtic boss was delighted his players found a way to win through goals from Japanese duo Kyogo and Reo Hatate - who was later culpable for a red card shown to captain Callum Mcgregor.
But he backed rather than barracked the players who made life more uncomfortable for his side than it could have been as they reclaimed the top spot Rangers had taken earlier with their 4-0 win at Tynecastle.
Postecoglou said: “Reo’s pretty hard on himself, he pushes himself, he wants to be better. So there’s a lot more to come.
“He’ll be disappointed with his pass late today which sort of created the red card situation.
“He’ll go back and think of how he can better. But Reo’s got great potential and he was good.
“It is disappointing for Callum. He’s taken one for the team. I’m not sure it was a red card, it looked like we had a covering player. But the referee was in a better position so you’ve got to cop it.”
As for the Juranovic own goal – the Croatian, under no pressure, chested the ball past Hart to make it 1-1 – Postecoglou accepted that mix-ups do happen.
He added: “There was no one else around them. But these things happen in football. Invariably they happen in a game like today. They never happen when you’re four or five up.
“But they’re human beings, mate. As much as I’d love to control them like that FIFA stuff, you let them be human beings who are going to make mistakes.
“The important thing is that we recovered from that and we got our goal.
“It was important to win. After a loss you’ve got to get back into winning ways as quickly as possible.
“So from that perspective it was an important three points. It should’ve been a lot more comfortable than it was.
“We started well and first half we created some really good opportunities but were unlucky with a couple hitting the post.
“But we had good chances, we usually are pretty good at putting away. We just lacked that clinical edge we usually have.”
Next up for Celtic is the Champions League clash in Leipzig on Wednesday and Postecoglou will give injured centre back Cameron Carter-vickers every chance to make it.
However, he is adamant he won’t hurry the American back if he’s not 100% fit.
Postecoglou said: “We will see. He got some treatment again and will get some on Sunday and we will see how he is Monday and Tuesday.”