CELTIC PROVE POINT
But Rodgers insists his men should have taken all three
CELTIC last night kept their Champions League hopes alive with a battling draw against Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany. But boss Brendan Rodgers (left) claimed they should have taken all three points, with substitute Callum McGregor blowing an outstanding chance to sink the ten-man hosts with four minutes to play.
Moussa Dembele’s 75th-minute spot-kick cancelled out a first-half strike from home skipper Lars Stindl and led to the dismissal of defender Julian Korb.
Rodgers praised his side’s fightback, which ensured the Parkhead club are still in the hunt for a third-placed finish and Europa League football after Christmas, but he was left to rue McGregor’s glaring miss.
‘We should have scored,’ he said. ‘He’s either got to score
play — some of the combination play to create the possibilities — was excellent. ‘But that was no more than we deserved, I felt. ‘Callum arrived in the box and had his shot and, unfortunately, it didn’t go in. ‘It was very important to create the opportunity, but that was the moment we felt we could win it. ‘So I’m disappointed we didn’t win the game. I thought we were the best team. ‘But I’m really proud of the players tonight because I told them that in order for us to improve, we needed to play with personality. And the personality we showed in the game was outstanding.’ After only the second away draw Celtic have mustered in 26 group games in the Champions League, Rodgers praised his side for taking the game to their opponents and creating chances throughout. A makeshift defence rode their luck after Scott Sinclair hit the upright early in the match. But this was a significantly better performance than the 2-0 home defeat to the same opponents in Glasgow a fortnight ago. ‘We hit the post (from Sinclair) and could have scored at the end,’ added Rodgers. ‘So it was an outstanding team performance and the beginning for us, really, at this level in terms of the personality we need to play with. ‘What was important for us was to get some sort of result. But I said to the players beforehand that — win, lose or draw — I wanted us to play the way we know we can. ‘I wanted to show we can come away to a really tough place in Europe and perform. So, for me, they deserve a huge amount of credit. ‘The pitch was actually difficult, a bit bobbly. But they kept calm and composed and it’s a result that keeps us in there fighting.’ Borussia coach Andre Schubert had no complaints over the Celtic penalty, expressing relief his side didn’t lose after wasting chances to seal the match. ‘I respect referee decisions because you can’t do anything about it,’ he said. ‘I’m glad after the red card that nothing worse happened. We must be satisfied with the point.’