'The scoreline was tight but I thought we dominated'
Sunday 2 September 2018 16:23, UK
Brendan Rodgers believes his Celtic side ought to have beaten Rangers by a more handsome margin after Olivier Ntcham's strike proved enough to record a narrow 1-0 win.
Celtic had 75 per cent possession in the opening 45 minutes as James Forrest and Mikael Lustig both struck the woodwork, while Allan McGregor made a vital save to deny Odsonne Edouard from close range.
But McGregor could do nothing to keep out Ntcham's decisive strike just after the hour as the former Manchester City midfielder finished off a sweeping move involving Tom Rogic, Edouard and Forrest.
Rodgers said: "It was a very good performance. The scoreline was a little bit tight but I thought we dominated and kept the ball well.
"We hit the bar three times and McGregor made a few outstanding saves which makes the scoreline as it is, but we knew we had to be concentrated.
"[Steven] Gerrard has done a good job going in there. They are a threat but I'm really pleased with the clean sheet today."
Rodgers extended his unbeaten record as Celtic manager against Rangers to 12 matches - a run that includes 10 victories and two draws.
It is a mightily impressive aspect of his reign in Scotland, and while the disappointment of missing out on a place in the Champions League will still linger at Celtic Park, Rodgers is looking forward in the hope that this victory will form the platform to another successful season.
He added: "Our trademark in a lot of these games has been our calmness. There's a lot of emotion surrounding these games, and you saw the courage of the players today to get on the ball and pass it. They got their rewards for that.
"This week we sent the message of wanting to keep more clean sheets. Having Dedryck Boyata back is always a big boost for us. It's that concentration which is really important for us. We know that when we do that, we've got great creativity in the team.
"It was a long pre-season, we entered the Europa League, but we sit here with three wins from four games so it's been a good start for us."
