Postecoglou Praises Team’s Character After Brilliant Response

CELTIC responded well to St Johnstone’s 93rd minute equaliser, pushing to get their winner just after.

It was a great passage of play, James McCarthy refused to give up on the loose ball, and won it before sliding it to Bernabei who was making his first league start. The Argentinian then put it across the face of goal for Giakoumakis to tap it in.

The scenes were brilliant as fans celebrated a goal that would see Celtic maintain their lead at the top of the table and refuse to drop points.

Celtic had just over a minute to get themselves back ahead, and somehow they managed it. It was almost a mirror image of Celtic’s trip to Dingwall last season, when Tony Ralston’s 97th minute header saw Celtic win 2-1.

Postecoglou praised his side, saying; [Daily Record]

“That’s the nature of football. We should have put the game to bed a lot earlier and at 1-0 the opposition always feel they’re in it and it doesn’t take much. A scramble in the box, they’ve got threats from set pieces and we concede late.

“Credit to the lads, we went there a few times last year and it’s good to know if required it’s still there. You have to have that through the course of the season. We’d love everything to run smoothly and it’s a game we really should have finished off a lot earlier. We went to the last minute but it’s important to show that character.

“It’s a period we’re going through just now – creating chances and not taking them. Earlier in the season we were taking everything coming our way. That’s the nature of football and we just have persevere and persist with what we’re doing and as long as we’re creating the chances eventually it will come.

“It’s a lot harder when you’re struggling to create chances because then you’re looking for solutions out there. We had some really good chances and on any other day would have finished the game off.

“There will be games like this during the course of the season and it’s important when they do come along that we show the character that we did today.”

It was a pretty win, but it’s three points nonetheless. Hopefully, it will spur Celtic on to victory in mid-week with momentum behind them and a win needed against Leipzig.