BRENDAN RODGERS spoke with great pride on Thursday night even though his team were knocked out of the Europa League. The Celtic manager recognised his players work rate, commitment and their bravery in the game which he believes was taken away from them by a poor refereeing decision.
Celtic looked the better side in the first 30 minutes and were unlucky not to take the lead. However, it all changed when Jeremy Toljan was sent off for a very soft yellow card. Once the defender was sent up the tunnel, the complexion of the game changed.
Even with ten men, it was Celtic who would ride the waves of attack from Valencia and were again unlucky not to take the lead with 20 minutes to go when Ajer had a free header in the box.
Speaking about the big red card decision, the Celtic manager was not pleased how Toljan was dealt with and believed the referee took it away from his side.
“I thought the referee took the game away from us. That was disappointing. I thought the players came together but I didn’t think it was a second yellow card. I thought it was a free-kick to us the player has come on the blindside and made contact with Jeremy. That changed the dynamic of the game.” Brendan told BT Sports.
“I spoke to him just after the game. He said it was a definite sending-off. I thought it was really harsh. You just sensed we were building into the game and it was disappointing. That was a key moment that took the game away from us. It’s unfortunate.”
