ANGE POSTECOGLOU praised the energy levels of his Celtic players as they produced an eye-catching performance in the 4-2 win over Dundee at Dens Park this afternoon.
Two goals in each half from Kyogo Furuhashi and Filipe Jota made certain of the points only three days after a tough shift in Budapest where the Hoops overcame Ferencvaros 3-2 in their Europa League Group G encounter.
There was no sign of fatigue on Tayside with the visitors two goals inside 20 minutes although some sloppy defending allowed James McPake’s side into the contest when Danny Mullen was allowed a clear header at the near post following a left-wing cross.
HIGH AND MIGHTY…Filipe Jota takes to the air as he celebrates his second goal at Dens Park.
Kyogo and Jota struck again five minutes after the turnaround, but once again their opponents were invited back into proceedings when the normally-reliable Joe Hart failed to deal with another ball from the left and Dens defender Lee Ashcroft nodded into an empty net.
Postecoglou said: “It was a good performance, a strong performance. We played some excellent football at times and controlled the game and played it on our terms.
“We scored four great goals and we could have been a little bit more ruthless in front of goal.
“We were disappointed to concede two goals. We just got a bit sloppy for both and part of our progress is to understand that we can’t lose focus or take liberties with our game.
“But overall, considering Thursday night and the fact we didn’t get back to the early hours of Friday, I was a bit worried about how we would go physically.”
BY THE LEFT…Kyogo Furuhashi smashes in his second goal – and Celtic’s fourth – with the Dundee defence in disarray.
NET PROFITS…Kyogo is congratulated by team-mates Josip Juranovic, David Turnbull and Nir Bitton after claiming the fourth goal.
The Greek-Australian gaffer, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “The forward players are going really well, but, as I said on Thursday, we provide a platform.
“The rest of the boys work hard to play off them and give the best opportunity to display their abilities with the football they play – and they appreciate that.
“They put in the hard work in a defensive sense, so it is a collective thing, but there is no doubt all three are special talents who have hit some great form and I am sure there is more to come.” Furuhashi was required to receive treatment during the confrontation before being replaced by Giorgos Giakoumakis after 61 minutes, but Postecoglou said the Japanese hitman, who has now collected 12 goals for the season, hadn’t succumbed to any significant issue.
The Hoops boss concluded: “He is fine. He got a bit of a knock on the shoulder and I didn’t know how long he would last after Thursday night. We got a good hour out of him, so it was good.”
MAKE OURS A DOUBLE, KYOGO, JOTA
