DISAPPOINTED Ronny Deila criticised Celtic’s dozy defenders for failing to clear the free-kick that led to Aberdeen’s late winner at Pittodrie.
Craig Gordon failed to come and clear his lines as Niall McGinn’s long free-kick dropped into the box and allowed Paul Quinn to net from only six yards.
And the Hoops boss was also upset his goalkeeper wasn’t given more protection from the the players in front of him.
He said: “When Craig sees that again, he will say he should have come for that, but he had three defenders in the centre of the goal who can attack it. It was too easy and we should have cleared it.”
Celtic had taken the lead in the first-half through a penalty-kick where Dons defender Andy Considine escaped a red card for hauling down scorer Leigh Griffiths. His team-mate Jonny Hayes wasn’t so fortunate later on when he was dismissed for a lunge at Mikael Lustig.
Referee Craig Thomson threw Derek McInnes’ side a lifeline when he awarded them a penalty-kick shortly after the interval when he adjudged Dedryck Boyata to have fouled Graeme Shinnie. Adam Rooney sent Gordon the wrong way from the spot.
To be fair, the home side could have had a penalty award earlier when the ball hit Charlie Mulgrew on the arm, but the match official deemed it unintentional.
Deila added: “We started well in the first half and we controlled it and created chances. We were 1-0 up and we were quite happy when we went in at half-time.
“We also had control of the game until the penalty and it was a cheap one in my mind. They made it 1-1 and were putting us under pressure. After the red card, I was very disappointed to concede the second goal.
“We had a chance to win the game and at least get one point, but we gave that away and that was disappointing.
“We put another striker on to get on the end for crosses and go for the second goal. We have conceded a lot of goals now from set-plays. It’s something we have been working on, but something we have to work harder on. It is very frustrating.
“We put another striker on to get on the end for crosses and go for the second goal. We have conceded a lot of goals now from set-plays. It’s something we have been working on, but something we have to work harder on. It is very frustrating.
“There is a long way to go and many points to fight for and we are going to fight to the end to win the league.”
New Bhoy Tyler Blackett, on loan from Manchester United, made his Celtic bow at Pittodrie at left-back, but the match came too soon for fellow new recruit Jozo Simunovic.
Deila said: “He had only trained one-and-a-half days with the team so it was too early. He has to know the names of the players and get into things before he plays. Tyler did okay. It was his first game, but you can see he has quality and he will be an important player for us.”
Many Celtic supporters were however much more critical in their opinion of Blackett’s debut performance than the manager.
