Brendan Rodgers says playing with 'heart' and 'competitive grit' key to the Motherwell win as Celtic strike late again
The Celtic boss breathed a sigh of relief after their win against Motherwell
After going two games winless, Daizen Maeda earned Celtic a much-needed 3-2 victory over Motherwell in a match that was carnage from start to finish.
Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring from the spot after Regan Charles-Cook handled the ball in the area. The away side then took the lead through an Apostolos Stamatelopoulos brace. The Aussie striker ran in between Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales to tap in for his first, then converted from the spot after Marcelo Saracchi took out Tawanda Maswanhise in the box.
Benjamin Nygren looked lively for Celtic after coming off the bench around the hour mark. The Swede was given a gift of a goal by Motherwell goalkeeper Callum Ward to equalise. After playing literally left, right and centre the full game, Daizen Maeda eventually headed home to give the home side all three points, despite looking far from his best all afternoon.
The win puts Celtic back within touching distance of Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table, who went five points clear yesterday with a late winner of their own against Hibs. After a five-goal thriller at Celtic Park, Brendan Rodgers believes the win was down to tenacity of his players.
‘We showed a real strong mentality’
The Celtic boss told the BBC: “clearly it's a very important win for us. The players showed an unbelievable amount of heart. Playing against a Motherwell team who are unbeaten, you can see why and see how they scored three at Hearts and two here.
"But we showed a real strong mentality today and real competitive grit. Even though we're not at our levels we've shown in the past, you still have to win. The guys coming into the game brought an energy, mentality and fitness to the game. It was a really good game, credit to Motherwell. Few teams will come here and try to build the game.”
Despite praising his sides mentality, Rodgers was also quick to mention that Celtic weren’t at their best and there’s still a lot of work to do. When 2-1 down, The Hoops played with very little tempo, which is very rare to see at Parkhead. Had they not have been gifted the equaliser, the outcome of the match could’ve been different.
‘Nowhere near our level’
He said: "there's no doubt there's a feeling that isn't quite what I would say is the Celtic feeling. We're nowhere near our level, I can be clear on that. However, while your searching for it and looking to grow and settle players in, it's important you win.”
The manager also gave a special shoutout to the match winner, Daizen Maeda. The Japanese star hasn’t hit the heights he reached last season, but is still a valuable asset to the Celtic team. He said: "for him (Maeda) and his family it's huge. There's no doubt everything in the summer would have an effect on him. We kept him on because he has that ability in the box. So, so pleased for him.
"For four years he's given everything, his heart and soul to this club. Naturally there was disappointment for him (in the summer) and I totally respect that. He's still turned up and he's working hard every single game. That there is a special feeling for him."