Rodgers: Celtic were ‘absolutely outstanding’

Matt Stead

Brendan Rodgers praised an “absolutely outstanding” effort from Celtic in earning a 3-3 draw against Manchester City.

Hoops striker Moussa Dembele gave the home side the lead in the third minute – the first time the Premier League leaders had been behind this season – before Fernandinho equalised in the 12th minute.

Left-back Kieran Tierney’s shot deflected off City winger Raheem Sterling, who then levelled again for the visitors with a well-taken goal.

Dembele made it 3-2 with less than two minutes played of the second half before Nolito equalised again in the 55th minute for a share of the spoils.

Celtic lost 7-0 to Barcelona in the first Group C game at the Nou Camp but the improvement in Brendan Rodgers’ side since that Catalan calamity was evident.

The Northern Irishman’s attitude to the result was overwhelmingly positive and he believes it will help with his squad’s development while boosting the reputation of Scottish football.

“I was disappointed by the goals we conceded,” he said.

“We can analyse them and the first one was from a mis-hit shot but with the other two we could do better.

“Apart from that, the performance of the team was absolutely outstanding.

“To perform like that against a team like Man City, it was an incredible performance.

“They have travelled around the English Premier League and destroyed teams, hence the reason people thought it was going to be a hugely difficult game for us.

“Tactically if you are not organised against this team they can really hurt you.

“There is no doubt that was a big performance from ourselves, it was a big step forward for us as a team in terms of our improvement as a team.

“I can’t ask for any more from the players that we have at the moment. There is a real great feel around the club at the moment.

“I hope tonight is a real good marker and measure of how the players have improved but I know there is a long way to go in terms of where I want to be.”