Celtic 'dominance' not reflected by scoreline - Rodgers
Celticâs single-goal win over Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season did not âreflect our dominanceâ, says manager Brendan Rodgers.
Olivier Ntchamâs second-half goal settled a game in which Celtic struck the frame of the goal four times.
Rodgersâ only complaint was that his side âdidnât score one or two moreâ as he extended his unbeaten record against Rangers to 12 matches.
âWe were the dominant team from start to finish,â Rodgers told BBC Scotland.
âWe didnât give too much away, then had the courage and quality to play.
âOn the end of a busy week, in what has been a busy pre-season, it was an outstanding performance and thereâs a lot more to come from the squad.â
Ntcham goal inflicts Gerrardâs first loss[1]
Reaction to Celticâs win & relive the match[2]
Player rater â who did you vote man of the match?[3]
Celtic are now second in the Premiership â three points behind Hearts â and four clear of Rangers, who have won just one of their opening four games.
The victory also ended Steven Gerrardâs unbeaten start as Ibrox manager and was a reaction to pre-match suggestions that the gap had narrowed between the sides.
Rodgers, though, insisted he has never âseen these games as threatsâ.
âYou have to respect that Steven [Gerrard] and Gary [McAllister] have done a great job, but Iâve always seen these as opportunities to show our quality,â he said.
âWeâve got top players and they did that today. They demonstrated their qualities, demonstrated the spirit thatâs in our squad, and it was a very good victory for us.â
âDembele stepped over the lineâ
Celticâs preparations were clouded by the messy departure of striker Moussa Dembele to Lyon in a ÂŁ19.7m deal.
The French striker said the club had âcaved inâ after several days of talks, cryptic social media posts, and his absence from the Europa League win over Suduva.
Rodgers had said on Friday morning that he expected Dembele to stay, only to release a statement hours later confirming a bid had been accepted âto serve the best interestsâ of âthe culture and environmentâ at Celtic.
âThe whole episode was disappointing,â Rodgers said after the derby win.
âI had a really close relationship with Moussa. He was desperate for the move. There was a line over stepped from a behaviour perspective.
âThere was a lot of stuff which was said which was not so nice and ironically not true. Moussa got his move. Deep down I know heâs a good boy, he did a great job for us and I wish him the best.â
^ Ntcham goal inflicts Gerrardâs first loss (www.bbc.co.uk)
^ Reaction to Celticâs win & relive the match (www.bbc.co.uk)
^ Player rater â who did you vote man of the match? (www.bbc.co.uk)
Celtic 'dominance' not reflected by scoreline â Rodgers was originally published on 365 Football