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Ange Postecoglou hails reaction as Celtic hold on to edge into Europa League

Ange Postecoglou hails reaction as Celtic hold on to edge into Europa League
© Reuters
Celtic survived a fraught encounter to go into the Europa League group stage with a 3-2 aggregate win.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou praised his players for their reaction after two defensive howlers put them under pressure against AZ Alkmaar.

Kyogo Furuhashi put Celtic 3-0 up on aggregate with little over two minutes gone in Holland but Joe Hart was punished for hesitation three minutes later as the hosts levelled on the night.

Carl Starfelt put through his own net under no pressure in the 26th minute to put AZ 2-1 up but Celtic survived a fraught encounter to go into the Europa League group stage with a 3-2 aggregate win.

"It was hugely important we got through," Postecoglou said.

"It means we are going to be playing in one of the elite competitions against good-quality opponents and ensuring there are more special European nights.

"We made two pretty terrible errors but that's what happens when you're dealing with human beings, they're going to make mistakes. What was more important for us is how we reacted.

"We lost our way a little bit in the first half and they got some momentum, because we started the game well. Obviously giving them two goals set us back but the second half we dug in when we had to.

"Joe, who was disappointed with the first-half mistake, made a couple of outstanding saves and Carl defended really strongly in the second half.

"I thought we were a little bit more composed than we were in the first half.

"It was a different type of performance but it's great that we showed that resilience."

Celtic suffered another first-half blow when Greg Taylor went off with a shoulder injury but Postecoglou was delighted with replacement left-back Adam Montgomery.

"It's too early to tell about Greg," said Postecoglou, whose team face Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.

"I thought Monty was outstanding, coming on, a young player, knowing we would have to defend a fair bit.

"Kyogo got a bit of a knock and the rest of them put in a shift so it's going to be all about recovery for the next 24-48 hours and then we will see how everybody is."

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic110082275581
2RangersRangers110074245078
3Hearts101046341263
4Kilmarnock10104334952
5St Mirren10013945-643
6Dundee10014556-1141
Relegation Group
1Hibernian11004752-542
2Aberdeen11003649-1338
3Motherwell10014652-637
4St Johnstone10012549-2431
5Ross County10013258-2630
6Livingston11002459-3521
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
12Livingston3339212259-3718


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