Manager: Players were brilliant and it was a great performance | OneFootball

Brendan Rodgers’ side produced one of their best domestic performances of the season to beat Dundee 6-0 at Celtic Park and go 13 points clear at the top of the Premiership.

And it was a night when the team produced several strong candidates for Goal of the Season.

The Hoops were 2-0 ahead at the break thanks to goals from Arne Engels with a penalty and Adam Idah on the stroke of half-time.

And in the second half they scored four more goals without reply, with Daizen Maeda scoring twice – including a breathtaking lob following a brilliant team move that started at the Celtic corner flag.

Arne Engels scored his second of the night with a 25-yard strike, while Nicolas Kuhn scored his 17th goal of the season with a wonderful effort into the top corner.

Not surprisingly, the Celtic manager was full of praise for his side when he spoke to Celtic TV after the game.

“The performance was right up there from minute one to the 93th minute, and I’ve got to say, the players were absolutely brilliant,” Brendan Rodgers said.

“Obviously, having played Sunday and then going into Wednesday there was not a great deal of recovery, but the attitude and the hunger in the team was impressive. And obviously our goals were absolutely brilliant.

“I thought the quality of our game was very good, but I’ve always said, I don’t lose sleep over who scores.

"We’ve got one winger on 18 goals and one on 17. We’ve got strikers scoring, midfield players scoring, so that’s what’s most important.”

Daizen Maeda scored twice in the second half, playing for much of the game on the right wing, and his overall performance earned him the Man of the Match award.

It also earned him praise from his manager, who said: “Daizen’s goal, we were under pressure in the bottom corner but we stayed calm, made out passed and connected the game and took the ball out the other side, out of pressure. A

“rne’s pass was brilliant but Daizen’s finish was sublime. It was a fantastic finish, but even his other goal before that – his run at the back post and a great ball from Jota.

“Nicolas’ goal was outstanding as well, and in fairness to Trevor Carson in their goal, there wasn’t a lot he could do about the goals.

“I’ve always said that Celtic come alive at this part of the season. We’ve done so much great work up to this point but this is the point where, as a Celtic player and a Celtic manager, you can really enjoy these pressure games.

“We’ve got 13 league games to go and we’re in a really good place, but we must keep our foot to the floor.”

Fixtures

Celtic Vs. Dundee - Wed, Feb 5th 2025, 19:45 Final score: 6 - 0