Morgan Rogers will not forget Champions League hat-trick against Celtic | OneFootball

Morgan Rogers says scoring a hat-trick to fire Aston Villa into the last 16 of the Champions League is a night he will “remember forever”.

Rogers grabbed the matchball in a 4-2 win over Celtic which ensured his side an eighth-placed finish in the league phase and direct entry into the next round.

The England international became the first Champions League player to score two goals in the first five minutes of a match as his quickfire brace put Villa in command, but Celtic hit back before half-time through Adam Idah’s double.

Ollie Watkins restored Villa’s lead on a breathless evening at Villa Park and then missed a penalty before Rogers completed his first career treble at the death.

Rogers said: “It’s definitely the highlight of my career so far. It’s a crazy experience and a crazy game to be a part of. It’s a massive achievement and we should be proud of ourselves.

“I’ve never scored two goals in a game in my career, so it’s something that’s been on my mind for a while.

“I’ve never had that experience, that feeling before, and to do it on this stage in a big game that we knew we needed to win is something I’ll remember forever.”

Rogers was proud of his side’s resilience in the second half when they had to recover from seeing their early lead wiped out.

“It’s something we had to address starting games behind and giving ourselves a mountain to climb,” he added.

It's definitely the highlight of my career so far. It's a crazy experience and a crazy game to be a part of. It's a massive achievement and we should be proud of ourselves

Morgan Rogers

“Still something to work on but the good start is something to put us on the right foot.

“I felt we were on top for the large majority. We scored two goals and that’s what changed the game.

“We had to dig deep, we know we can, we do it in the Premier League every week. We thoroughly deserve it. We’ve got the hunger and the drive and we’ve got a manager who pushes us every day.”

Celtic made the trip south of the border knowing they were guaranteed a spot in the play-off round, but defeat hurt them in the biggest possible way as they will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich next.

Idah told Celtic TV: “I think we have been fantastic, if you’d have said at the start we’d be here, we’d have taken it all day, we’ve done better.

“We have a lot of belief and confidence in ourselves to go as far as we can. We are very excited for the next couple of games and hopefully we can do well.

“We want to play the top teams when we are in the Champions League, it will be a test for us, they are two of the best teams in the world.

“Everyone is looking forward to it, it’s a tough task but hopefully we can get a result.”