Celtic put 'heart and soul' into 'breathless' Bologna draw as Martin O'Neill gives Hatate red card reaction
The Celtic boss has given his reaction to Reo Hatate’s dismissal in the 2-2 Europa league draw with Bologna in Italy
Martin O’Neill has fired back at Celtic’s critics who claimed his side was lacking in “character” as he praised the “heart and soul” his ten-men put into their valiant 2-2 Europa League draw against Bologna.
Following Reo Hatate’s first-half dismissal, the Scottish champions had to survive a second half fightback from the Serie A outfit to keep their hopes of progressing in the competition alive heading into next week’s final matchday at home to FC Utrecht.
Celtic got off to a dream start in northern Italy when Daizen Maeda capitalised on a goalkeeping error to set up Hatate for an early opener, but the goal scorer was sent packing shortly after.
That made the Hoops’ task more daunting but Auston Trusty doubled their lead just before half-time to put O’Neill’s men in a commanding position.
The second half was a completely different story, with the visitors forced to soak up wave after wave of attack from the Italians. They eventually came unstuck as Thijs Dallinga and Jonathan Rowe pulled the game back to 2-2.
Despite letting their two-goal lead slip, O’Neill was proud of his players efforts in difficult circumstances. He told Celtic TV: “Well, it was breathless and I still am, but it was a magnificent effort by the team. They put heart and soul into it.
“I mean to play, what 60 odd minutes, whatever it was, with 10 men, to show the sort of character that supposedly is lacking in this team, I don’t see it. I don’t see it at all. I see heart and desire in big waves. And it’s really welcoming to see.
“However, we got a goal. Might have been bad play by them, but we’ve got a goal. We press them, we press them. We’re playing some delightful stuff. The sending off, of course, changes the course of the game in many aspects, and it’s a long way to go.
“As I said, 60-odd minutes there with 10 men, but again, the spirit of the side was terrific, really, really terrific tonight, and the crowd helped us the whole way through.”
Martin O’Neill blasts ‘really innocuous’ Hatate red card
Celtic had to play a long stretch of the game with ten men after Hatate was dismissed in the first half after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession. The incident had a significant baring on the outcome of the match, but Celtic showed plenty of resolve to come away with a crucial point.
Asked for his verdict on Hatate’s red card, O’Neill admitted: “I’ve seen it back, which I didn’t see at the time. I thought it was really innocuous, and I still think it is.
“I don’t think that Reo meant to foul him. I think he was being held back to begin with, and he swings round a little bit, a wee bit petulantly in that sense, but that wasn’t the reason for it.
”It was actually stamping on the lad’s foot. Now, I think it was completely accidental. However, I think when you’ve just been booked before that, you should try to stay out of it because the ball looked as if it was going to go out of play. Never mind anything else, it is incredibly frustrating.
“Reo has apologised profusely to us all, but listen, fine. At the end of it all, if we’d had him for the rest of the game, until they get really, really tired, I think we would have won.”