“Very good victory for us” – Rodgers delighted with Celtic first leg victory [BBC]

Celtic played their first leg of the Europa League competition against Zenit St Petersburg last night at Celtic Park and Bhoys pulled off what looked like a rather modest 1-0 to take to Russia for the 2nd leg of the last-32 tie next week.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was rather content with his side win and feels his team are well-positioned to move onto the round of 16 in Europe’s second ranked club competition.

Callum McGregor scored the “sensational” winner for Celtic as Rodgers said and the manager feels the club have “a great opportunity” to progess in the competition as a result. Celtic on loan star, Charly Musonda provided the assist for McGregor’s goal with a perfecting weighted lofted pass.

The Northern Irish boss had this to say when speaking about the victory last night as the BBC reported:

“They probably need to come out a little bit now to chase the game,”

“And of course that can give us more space and opportunities to play and score.”

“Very good victory for us, I thought the performance was outstanding. We’re playing against a top side, everyone recognises that. For large parts of the game, we controlled it.”

“With the ball, I was really pleased with our personality in the game – control and calmness. We played with great maturity tonight.”

So Rodgers may be a little optimistic given such a slender lead but he has to be pleased the impact the loanee is providing his side with.

Celtic will not have an easy time in Russia next week but based on the performance in the first leg last night there is certainly reasons for optimism.