Celtic played the first leg of their Europa League tie against Zenit St Petersburg last night at Celtic Park and they pulled off what looked like a rather modest 1-0 win to take to Russia for the 2nd leg of the last-32 tie next week.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was rather content with the win and feels his side are well-positioned to move onto the round of 16 in Europe’s second ranked club competition.
Callum McGregor scored the “sensational” winner for the Hoops as Rodgers said and the manager feels the club have “a great opportunity” to progress in the competition as a result. Charly Musonda provided the assist for McGregor’s goal with a perfectly weighted lofted pass.
Rodgers 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 the manager has to be pleased the impact Chelsea loanee, Belgian striker Charly Musonda is having on the Hoops.
Celtic’s former Liverpool boss managed to add Musonda amid much interest in him and the starlet seems to be fitting in well and developing a good understanding with his team-mates.
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.