IT WAS little wonder Brendan Rodgers was beaming after Celtic’s rollercoaster 1-0 triumph over Young Boys at a rocking Parkhead last night.
For a start, the victory ensured a place in the play-off stages of the Champions League with a game to spare.
The Hoops have earned three wins, managed three draws and suffered just one defeat on their path to qualification through the obstacle course to the next round.
Rodgers admitted he was looking for progress in Europe’s most prestigious competition and the players have matched their manager’s ambition for success and consistency at the highest level.
In a truly astonishing evening under the lights in the east end of Glasgow, Kyogo Furuhashi had THREE goals ruled out a first-half in which Arne Engels also missed a penalty-kick.
The game was won in the 86th minute when heroic keeper Marvin Keller diverted a shot from Adam Idah onto his own defender Loris Benito and the ball ricocheted into the inviting net.
Rodgers grinned afterwards and said: “It’s a brilliant result and I’m very pleased with the performance and maturity in it.
“I thought in the first-half we were outstanding – our penetration and our ability to get in behind – and we were unfortunate with the goals that were disallowed.
“Then we probably got that little bit of luck that we never had in the first-half with the goal.
“I just said to the guys afterwards, that in the 85th minute of the game, they kept their composure, they stuck with the plan, they played the ball through the thirds and then it was an absolutely unbelievable pass from Reo to get us in.
“Adam makes the run and then we get the wee bit of fortune at the end of it, but I thought we thoroughly deserved that and thoroughly deserved the three points.”
Rodgers, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “I thought the composure of the team was really good. We were so good in the first-half.
“We don’t score the penalty, but I thought the reaction was good and we responded well. We stayed calm and got to work again on trying to play. “And then we just kept persevering in the second-half and then, eventually, we got our reward.”
The Hoops gaffer added: “This is the highest level of club football, where there’s top players in every team and threats in every team.
“But, for us, we’ve built through it and played some great football and showed different ways to win, as well.
“When we’ve had to dig in, we’ve been able to do that. Defensively, we’ve been good at the level bar one game, so, overall, there has been a lot of progress and I’m really pleased with that.
“So, we can now look forward to one more game, see who we get in the play-offs and give everything when that comes.”
Celtic bring down on the qualifying section with an intriguing match against Aston Villa in the Midlands on Wednesday.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED IN NIGHT OF HIGH DRAMA