ANOTHER 5 STAR SHOW
Rodgers says win mirrors league rout
BRENDAN RoDgERs insists Celtic were as dominant in a narrow Betfred Cup triumph over Rangers yesterday as they were in last month’s 5-1 thrashing of their bitter rivals.
Moussa Dembele secured a final clash with Aberdeen next month with a sublime backheel finish in the 87th minute of a tense last-four clash at Hampden.
Denied repeatedly by the heroics of Rangers goalkeeper Matt gilks, the sPFL Premiership leaders were controversially denied a 49th-minute ‘goal’ for Erik sviatchenko before Dembele finally made the breakthrough with his fourth goal in two meetings against the Ibrox club.
Rangers boss Mark Warburton claimed the scoreline was evidence of a narrowing gap between the two teams after last month’s heavy defeat at Parkhead. But Rodgers insisted: ‘The performance was the same as
the last game, it was just the goals. ‘We had that similar performance, but we just didn’t finish the chances. Some of that was through their goalkeeper touching a ball on to the bar and it coming back to him, and I’d need to see the (Sviatchenko) header again. ‘It looked very harsh that it was disallowed. When the ball is coming into the box, both sets of players are always physically trying to command that edge to get a touch on it. ‘We’d other chances that could have gone in, but didn’t. ‘But, again, it shows the mentality in the team. They kept going, didn’t get disappointed and had great discipline in the game. ‘They got their reward which was thoroughly deserved.’ As extra-time loomed, Rodgers threw Leigh Griffiths and Stuart Armstrong on for more energy and had his reward when the Scotland striker teed up Dembele’s winning goal. ‘The goal was wonderful play,’ admitted the Celtic manager. ‘Leigh and Stuart Armstrong were brilliant and added real thrust and energy into our game. ‘Stuart added great power and running to the team. Leigh was a real threat. He was disappointed he didn’t score but he showed his unselfish nature by guiding it into Moussa’s path and he’s produced a real clever finish for the winning goal. ‘Was there a bit of relief when the goal went in? Yeah, because I thought we were very dominant in terms of chances, the power and strength in our performance and the quality of our game. ‘Sometimes, you never know if the chances don’t go in and you don’t get that bit of luck which is deserving of it, you are open to a counter-attack. ‘But I thought how we went about the game, defensively and tactically first and foremost, the players were brilliant.’
Rodgers singled out captain Scott Brown for special praise as he avenged last season’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final loss to the same opponent with a commanding performance in midfield. ‘I think it was after this game last season that people talked about him as being finished,’ said Rodgers. ‘But he totally dominated the middle of the park today.’ Weakened by the loss of Niko Kranjcar and Danny Wilson before kick-off, Rangers boss Warburton gave Old Firm debuts to Clint Hill and Lee Hodson, with James Tavernier moving forward. And despite the defeat, he insisted his side were significantly better than in the 5-1 defeat in the SPFL. ‘The so-called gap is a lot narrower than people think, I hope, but we have to learn from today’s performance,’ he said. ‘Players were asked to play out of position today and I felt Lee Hodson did well coming in at right back. He was great one-on-one and made good use of the ball. ‘We’ve lost a semi-final at Hampden 1-0, so there is disappointment. ‘But I think there were a lot of positives to take out of the game. We worked very hard to move forward and gel as a team and I hope you saw that. ‘We can’t afford to sit here and mope around for two or three days. We have a very important league game on Wednesday (against St Johnstone) and again on Saturday against tough opposition. ‘We can’t afford any hangover. The important thing is to look at the game and learn from it — as we always do — but there are a lot of positives.’ Rangers will run further checks on Kranjcar’s injured knee before knowing for certain if the Croat has sustained cruciate ligament damage. And Warburton said: ‘There is inflammation on Kranjcar’s knee and we will wait seven or eight days for the specialist to have a look at it.’