No excuses as Rodgers looks to build

BRENDAN Rodgers offered no excuses after Celtic slumped to their first Old Firm league defeat in almost seven years, insisting the reduced allocation of away supporters cannot be held responsible for his team passing the ball “out the pitch under no pressure”.

The Parkhead side surrendering possession cheaply was one of the themes of a match that saw the Northern Irishman lose his first Glasgow derby after 10 wins and two draws from his first dozen attempts. The Celtic manager was also forced into a tactical re-think or two, with defenders Filip Benkovic and Mikael Lustig injured in the course of the game, and key striker Odsonne Edouard not deemed fit enough to start the match. But there was no hiding place for a Celtic side who were well beaten and had the rare sensation of being on the wrong end of this derby.

“Rangers deserved to win,” said Rodgers. “We didn’t play well. We made too many unforced mistakes. We had to make a couple of changes early on, which interrupts a wee bit what we want to do later on. But I’ve no real excuses. We’ve got players missing but on the day Rangers were better than us – 13th time unlucky, unfortunately. We just didn’t have a good game. You have to be humble when you win but also honest when you lose and the honest answer is they were better than us today.

“Of course, if you have 750 [away fans] or 7000 it does make a difference,” he added. “The games are better when there is a higher proportion of away supporters there but that doesn’t make you pass the ball out the pitch – under no pressure. We were grateful to the ones who were here.”

Rodgers praised Callum McGregor, who was exempt from the general

malaise even in an unfamiliar leftback role, and said the result – which leaves them top of the table on goal difference, with a game in hand – hadn’t really changed anything.

“I said before we’d either be in a good position or a very good position,” said Rodgers. “We’re still top with a game in hand. The league has shown in the first six months it has been competitive, with Rangers, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Hearts and Aberdeen. So it doesn’t change anything we didn’t already know before the game. Hopefully, we can get one or two reinforcements in, go away, refresh and come back in the second half of the season and fight for the points.”

His opposite number Steven Gerrard agreed with the assertion that the Parkhead side are still favourites for the league but insisted the win proved his team can be a match for them.

“Listen, Celtic are still the favour- ites,” said Gerrard. “They are still the team to catch and beat. I’m not going to sit here and brag because we’ve beat Celtic once. We have respect for the opposition and the other teams in the league. It’s a very difficult league and Celtic are still the favourites. But what we have shown today is that when we find a level then we are more than a match for them. We proved that in this 90 minutes as we were excellent.”

Gerrard gave his team top marks – with particular mentions for Ryan Kent, Scott Arfield and Connor Goldson, all of who had put in sterling displays despite recent fitness worries. Also putting his body on the line was Andy Halliday, who not only successfully kept James Forrest quiet but got a crucial late block on an Olivier Ntcham shot.

“It’s a fantastic result for myself and the team but this is about the supporters,” said Gerrard. “They’ve waited a long time for an Old Firm victory. You could feel the tension and the emotion in the air in the dying moments of the game, so I’m just pleased for them that they can enjoy it.

“The performance was really, really good. I asked the players to deliver an ‘A’ game – and it was an A plus. To a man all over the pitch we were better than Celtic – we won every single one v one. We were more aggressive, we created more, we could have won by a bigger margin.

“Andy was excellent – he deserves this moment. He’s been on the end of some really tough Old Firm results. He’s Rangers daft, and he’s been excellent for me. He had the most difficult job of stopping a player in form, James Forrest, and he did an excellent job. Tonight is about the fans, but Andy is a fan.”