Sunday 5 February 2017 17:58, UK
Brendan Rodgers admits Celtic were lucky to receive the penalty that inspired a comeback in their win at St Johnstone on Sunday.
Celtic went in 2-1 behind at the break at McDiarmid Park and in danger of letting their unbeaten run come to an end before a dubious handball decision gave Rodgers' side an opportunity to turn things around in the second half.
After Keith Watson was judged to have blocked Keiran Tierney's cross with his arm Moussa Dembele dispatched the spot-kick, setting Celtic on their way for a late rout that ended in a 5-2 win.
However, after the game Rodgers was sympathetic towards St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright when asked if the decision was harsh.
"I think it is," said Rodgers. "It's one where if it's given against you, you're disappointed. I don't know what the boy can do there, obviously I'm happy we got it."
Wright defended his players, despite suffering a late collapse against the Scottish Premiership leaders, and instead put blame on the referee.
"They deserved better, they deserved a better performance from the referee," he said. "I don't want to put any spin on it, they're wrong decisions.
"There were three teams out there, we were fantastic, Celtic were fantastic but unfortunately the referees were poor."
Dembele's penalty was the first of three second-half goals after coming on as a substitute - having recently recovered from a knee injury.
The striker dispelled rumours of an exit after being linked with a Deadline Day move from Celtic, and Rodgers insisted Dembele knows what is best for him.
"He's been training for the last for or five days, he was never going to start," said Rodgers. "We're glad he's back because you can only play so long without a striker. But you can see the difference he makes when he comes in, being that reference point and then everyone else can move around him.
"He's recovered well and he just needed that time to get training under his belt.
"He's a big-game player. He has an inherent belief in his own ability and he knows where he want to get to. But he also knows he is at a big club and this is a great chance for him to play under pressure. We have to win virtually every game and you get the chance to win trophies and play in big competitions."
