BRENDAN Rodgers said his team didn’t keep hold of the ball well enough to come home with anything from their Europa League visit to Salzburg. Despite leading at half-time courtesy of a fine Odsonne Edouard goal within just two minutes, the roof caved in on Celtic during that second period, as they conceded three goals and saw James Forrest dismissed for a foul on Andreas Ulmer which was adjudged to be preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The 3-1 defeat maintained a winless streak on their travels in this competition which now stretches to 13 matches. By contrast, the Austrian champions still haven’t lost at this venue since November 2016. Celtic’s next involvement in this competition is a trip to Leipzig to face the big brother of the Red Bull operation, a match they must play without the suspended Forrest.
“I thought the best team won,” said Rodgers. “The first half I was reasonably pleased with. But the second half we gave away disappointing goals, that was a frustration for us.
“My feeling was that we didn’t retain the ball well enough, took too many touches,” the Northern Irishman added. “When it gets to ten men it becomes a difficult game for us.
“What were the positives? In the first half, we were compact and tight, didn’t concede too much. But it was a disappointing result for us.
“And it was a great start from us,” he added. “In terms of being compact in the shape, and being able to threaten, because they push their full backs right on. It was a wonderful finish, but you can see how they play, they are a very good side. First half we limited them really, but overall we need to be better with the ball, be able to play quicker with minimal touches otherwise we don’t get a rest in the game. We were just beaten by the better team.
“If you look at the first couple of goals, it is about us probably anticipating it a bit better. We will go away and analyse it and see where it can be better.”
While Rodgers admitted his side had been hampered by the absence of captain and talisman Scott Brown with a hamstring problem, he singled out his replacement Youssuf Mulumbu for praise on his European debut. The Congolese player is likely to be required again on Sunday, with Brown rated doubtful to play in the Premiership match at St Johnstone.
“When Scott doesn’t play it takes a little bit away form the team, but you have to give credit to Youssuf Mulumbu, he hasn’t played so much but he did very well. He got 70 minutes against Kilmarnock recently and is still working his way in but I think Youssuf came in and did very well for us.”
Celtic’s tormentor-in-chief on the night was Munas Dabbur – ominuous news for Scotland considering the Israeli striker is also likely to play against Alex McLeish’s side in Haifa – but Rodgers heaped praise on a Salzburg side who, with two wins from two, could take some beating in this group.
“Collectively they are a good team,” he said. “He [Dabbur] is a good player of course, he works hard and makes good runs, nice touch and nice technical player. But they work well and have good speed, they work the ball very well. To get to a semi-final of this competition last year we know they are a very good team.”
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