Manager: It was a win we thoroughly deserved

Celtic F.C.

·8 January 2025

Manager: It was a win we thoroughly deserved

Brendan Rodgers watched his side produce a dominant performance to beat third-placed Dundee United 2-0 at Paradise, thanks to goals from Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate.

The result puts the Hoops 16 points clear at the top of the Premiership table, and the Celtic manager was delighted with his team’s display.

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It also gave the league leaders a win against a side that had managed to hold them to a goal-less draw at Tannadice just before Christmas.

Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, Brendan Rodgers said: “It was a very good win for us. We were excellent in the first half and got the goal but didn’t quite capitalise on that.

In the second-half, towards the last period of the game, you put yourself in a position that you shouldn’t be in, when it’s 1-0 and maybe you haven’t taken chances and their keeper’s made some really good saves.

“But we weathered that little bit of pressure that came our way in the second half and then we got the second goal, and obviously thoroughly deserve it. So it was a very good three points.

“You have to be able to deal with that as a team, and no matter how dominant you are as a team, there are going to be little spells where you have to defend long throw-ins or balls into the box.

“So I thought the players did that very well and we’re very deserving winners.”

And the manager praised Man of the Match, Arne Engels, who produced another strong performance in the heart of the Celtic midfield.

“Arne’s working very hard and now he’s in the flow of how we work and how we play, and his hard work is paying off and I’m delighted for him.”