Celts cede two-goal lead
Joe beaten four times by ruthless Betis but Ralston takes positives from a Euro thriller
ANTHONY RALSTON insists Celtic shouldn’t be beating themselves up over their collapse to Real Betis after claiming they still put credit in the bank against the Spaniards.
The Hoops full-back is convinced the performance against the La Liga cracks is a sign of progress despite blowing a two-goal lead as their Europa League Group campaign began with a crazy night in Seville.
Albian Ajeti’s strike and a Josip Juranovic penalty allowed the Glasgow giants to gain an early advantage only for Jota to miss a golden chance for a third.
It was to trigger an opening of the floodgates as Joe Hart was beaten four times and Ralston is adamant it left a sour taste after flying out of the blocks.
He said: “It’s disappointing to lose the game as clearly our intention was to come here and try to win the game.
“We had a good start in the game and managed to get ourselves into a two-goal lead and we were looking strong but we lost that.
“The important thing was that we kept going and we dug in especially when Betis took the lead. We also managed to keep going to the very end so there are a lot of positives to take away from the game.
“We need to take that into the other European games as well as into the league.”
The 22-year-old nodded home late on to put something of a flattering look to a 4-3 scoreline which remained respectable due to fine first-half saves from Hart.
Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou also went down the route of there being better days ahead for a side which remains a work in progress.
And Ralston echoed his manager in insisting the belief in the systems and style under the Australian won’t be altered any time soon.
He said: “I definitely feel that there’s a lot more to come from this group of players. We’ve got a quality team, on top of that we have the desire to go places and a strong belief in how the gaffer wants us to play.
“I feel we are implementing that, even at this level as well. So it’s important we continue to do that and believe in each other.
“We have to focus on each game and try to keep climbing and do what we can.
“It’s just important we keep to what we believe in and what we’re trying to do and I am sure we will be fine.”
Defeat in the opener leaves Celtic third in Group G after Bayer Leverkusen fought back to beat Ferencvaros 2-1.
But Ralston is convinced the latest Seville hard luck story could have had a better ending had they been more clinical.
He said: “We had our chances we missed but we need to look at the fact we’re creating them as another positive. In another day if we managed to take them then it’s a different result.
“It’s disappointing to lose the game but we need to take all of those positives into the future.”
There was a lot to credit Celtic for, especially in a frantic first half hour against Los Verdiblancos, where they created a host of chances.
And Ralston is adamant the star quality within the Spanish ranks should be factored into any criticism which comes their way.
He said: “Betis are a topquality side, we knew that. We didn’t fear that and we believed we could come here and win. We wanted to play our football and it’s unfortunate that we lost.
“But it means that we’re now ready to put all of those positives into our future games.
“They’re a quality side and we lost the goals in quick succession after we took a 2-0 lead.
“That’s football, it’s how you react to that and I felt we reacted in the right way. We came out and we fought, even though they took the lead.”
A roasting hot Spanish night sapped the energy from the Celtic legs as Betis threatened to run amok.
But Ralston is adamant it will prove a valuable learning curve as they face the prospect of trying to get their Europa League campaign back on track against German giants Leverkusen at the end of the month.
He said: “It was tiring but these are the types of games you want to play in – they’re going to be hard, they’re going to be physical. It’s how you adapt to the climate and the style of play of the opposition but I felt we did that well.
“You just need to keep going to the end. You never know in football. You don’t give up in these types of ties, you want to try and get a result, especially away from home.
“On another day we take our chances and it’s a different result but we’ve lost the game. We’ll regroup and focus on the next one.”