Celtic skipper McGregor blames 'naive' display for Bodo/Glimt defeat
Celtic skipper Callum McGregor blames ‘naive’ performance for Bodo/Glimt defeat and says they must step up in the second leg to rescue their Euro hopes
- Celtic were beaten 3-1 by Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League
- The Norwegian outfit outclassed Ange Postecoglou’s men on Thursday night
- Bodo/Glimt stormed into a 3-0 lead before Daizen Maeda pulled one back
- Celtic now have it all to do in next week’s crucial second leg in Norway
Celtic skipper Callum McGregor admitted that a ‘naive’ team performance proved costly in Thursday night’s Europa Conference League defeat to Bodo/Glimt.
The slick Norwegians stunned Celtic Park to take a commanding lead into next week’s second leg of the knockout round play-off.
Goals from Runar Espejord and Amahl Pellegrino had put the visitors 2-0 up, before a Daizen Maeda header brought Celtic back into it on 78 minutes.
Celtic skipper Callum McGregor admitted that a ‘naive’ team performance proved costly
Yet, barely 60 seconds later, Bodo scored a third through the outstanding Hugo Vetlesen to ensure that Celtic now have a mountain to climb.
McGregor felt Celtic were still well in the tie at 2-1, but admitted that the concession of a third goal so quickly after scoring themselves was poor.
‘If the game finishes 2-1, then you’ve got a real good chance,’ said the Celtic captain. ‘That’s the naivety we’ve got at this level in terms of being a new group.
Celtic were beaten 3-1 by Bodo/Glimt in their Europa Conference League knockout first leg
‘So, we’ve got to learn from that. We’ll do the analysis and learn that you’ve always got to switch on, especially when you score. That’s probably when you’re at your most vulnerable.
‘We have to take that on the chin, reassess it, we go there next week and we try to turn it around.’
Celtic began the match as strong favourites against a Bodo side who are still in pre-season and hadn’t played a competitive game since mid-December.
Runar Espejord fired the Norwegian outfit in front after just six minutes at Celtic Park
But Ange Postecoglou’s side never clicked into gear and McGregor believes their final ball too often let them down.
‘We got into some good situations, but the final pass just wasn’t quite there in terms of quality,’ he said.
‘That shows that we’ve still got a lot of learning to do in these big games. We need to step it up. They got three goals tonight because of the quality they have.
‘It is always difficult when you go a goal behind so early. That gives you a mountain to climb.
Daizen Maeda did pull one back for the Scottish Premiership outfit late in the game
‘But I still felt we had enough in the game and had some good situations around their box. It was just that last wee bit of quality that was probably missing.
‘Even when got the goal, you would think that maybe gives us the ascendancy. But then we conceded straight away and that sort of kills us again.
‘But, for me, there was enough in the game that suggests we can go over there and turn it around. We need to stay positive and stay calm.’
Celtic boss Postecoglou added: ‘It was a disappointing night and we didn’t get the result we wanted.
And Hugo Vetlesen added a third for the visitors to ensure Celtic have it all to do in the decider
‘The performance was okay. We controlled the game but got caught on the counter a couple of times and they scored from that.
‘That made us a bit vulnerable going forward but we had some chances and probably weren’t clinical enough.
‘It’s not over. It’s half-time. We will dust ourselves off and go again.’
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article