Manager: A point at this level can be very important

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Celtic F.C.

·27 November 2024

Manager: A point at this level can be very important

After tonight’s 1-1 draw with Club Brugge at Celtic Park, Brendan Rodgers was left reflecting on what he called a ‘wasted 45 minutes’ in the first half which saw Brugge go in at half time with a one goal lead.

That being said, Brendan was a much happier manager in the second period as the Hoops stepped up the intensity and Daizen Maeda fired in a tremendous equaliser with just over an hour played.

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Speaking to Celtic TV after the match, Brendan said that he felt his side were by far the better side in the second half.

“It wasn’t so good in the first half,” he said. “Too passive, not enough belief with the ball, and in the second half it was much more like it.

“In the first half, we weren’t there. Not enough intensity, not enough hard running to get the ball, and when you do that against good teams at this level they’ll play through you and that’s exactly what they done, too often.

‘In the second half I thought we were the much better team.’

“They’re a man-marking team so you have to work them and move them, and we did that so well for the goal.

“It was a brilliant goal from Daizen and from there it looked like we could go and win the game.

“We’ll take the point having wasted 45 minutes really. We played much better in the second half and deserved that equaliser.

“There’s three more games to go, nine points to play for and still on track for where we want to get to.”

After Daizen’s sensational equaliser, there was a definite feeling inside Celtic Park that there was a real chance to go and claim all three points.

That feeling was echoed by the Celts’ boss, who was sure that his side could strike again and take the lead.

However, reflecting on a hard-earned draw and speaking from experience after a few late sucker-punches through the years, Brendan said that he can see the positives in the point.

He added: “I’ve been in enough of these games here where a good European team like that score late on. We’ve all been here and it’s a big disappointment.

“But I didn’t feel that. I felt that once we got the goal, once we played our game, once we were much more aggressive, we looked like the team that could go on and score. I just had that feeling that it was going to come.

“But, if you can’t win it, make sure you take your point and, like we’ve seen in Atalanta, a point at this level can be very important.”