Brendan Rodgers hailed the “heart and soul” of his Celtic side after a last-gasp triumph at Hibernian restored their three-point lead over Rangers in the cinch Premiership.
Adam Idah scored penalties at either end of his first Celtic start to seal a 2-1 win and Rodgers’ first victory at Easter Road on his fifth visit.
Hibs had the better chances after Dylan Levitt’s equaliser on the hour mark but Joe Newell’s late challenge on Kyogo Furuhashi allowed Idah the chance to make himself an instant hero.
Rodgers said: “I said to the players before the game, listen, whatever has happened before, you have 14 games left.
“You’re not going to win the title tonight or lose it, but you can make a big psychological impact by coming away to a tough ground and winning.”
Rodgers admitted his side lacked the creativity and finesse to capitalise on their first-half possession and the composure to play through Hibernian’s press after the interval.
“But what I never doubt about these players and I said to them before the game, to get through and win games, we need to play with heart and soul, and the players showed immense heart to play through to the very end and get the victory,” he added.
“We will play better. We have to play better. It’s not the level I want to see. But we will go away and analyse it and look to be better in our next game.”
Three Celtic players have missed spot-kicks this season but on-loan Norwich forward Idah continued his perfect career penalty record.
“He had taken six penalties before and scored a great penalty against Holland for the Republic of Ireland,” Rodgers said.
“You just see how he addresses it, he knows he’s a penalty taker. Against David Marshall, who has had a fantastic career, there is a psychological test there as well. And he came through that. It was a great night for him.”
Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery felt Celtic got the breaks his team lacked from referee Nick Walsh and video assistant Andrew Dallas.
The first penalty came after Nectarios Triantis caught Alistair Johnston with a late aerial challenge that put the Canada defender in hospital.
Montgomery claimed Alexandro Bernabei had fouled Martin Boyle in the box – the winger was booked for diving – and was fortunate not to be penalised for an incident with Lewis Miller.
Montgomery said: “It was a real disappointing way to lose the game. I thought we were more than worthy of three points, we had some great chances.
“There were plenty of incidents that if the ref went over to the VAR, I think we would have had a penalty on Martin Boyle.
“Watching it back in slow motion, he gets caught from behind on his quad. He’s got a dead leg, he is limping around in there. It’s irrelevant how he goes down. If the ref looks at it, he has no option to give a penalty.
“And there was a foul on Lewis Miller where if he goes over to the VAR, I think that’s possibly a different colour card.
“The first penalty, Nectar is committed, he has gone to win the header. There’s no malice in it whatsoever. It’s two players going to win a header.
“If that happens anywhere else on the field, the game is stopped, the players get treatment and it’s maybe a drop ball. But I haven’t watched that one back closely.
“The second one, I watched it once. It maybe looks like it was just outside the box, Joe pulls out. Not one person in the stadium thought about asking for a penalty.”
After Johnston was carried off on a stretcher with a facial injury, Rodgers said: “He had gone to hospital. Some of the guys were just saying he had text through on social media or whatever it is that he is okay.”
Keane doubts Man Utd will crack top four under Amorim this season
Roy Keane does not believe Manchester United will get back into the Premier League's top four under Ruben Amorim this season due to a "real lack of quality".
The Red Devils legend was speaking after United started life under the Portuguese with a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, as Omari Hutchinson cancelled out Marcus Rashford's second-minute opener.
Keane acknowledged Amorim has to be given time to turn things around at Old Trafford, but does not see United cracking the top four this season.
"You have to give the man a chance," Keane told Sky Sports. "But the threat going forward, it's a huge problem for Man Utd. It's not good enough.
"Do I believe they have the quality to get them back to top four? Absolutely not. The evidence is not there. It's the same old stuff. Predictable and a real lack of quality."
United created 0.9 xG compared to Ipswich's 1.75 and had fewer shots on target (four) compared to Ipswich (six) at Portman Road.
They did have more touches in the opposition box (16 to 11) but had fewer final-third entries (48 to 61) and big chances created (two to three).
Ipswich were extremely resilient opponents after their early setback, and Tractor Boys boss Kieran McKenna praised his side, particularly Hutchinson after he grabbed his first Premier League goal.
"I thought he (Hutchinson) was a big threat first half, naturally more a winger, but most teams are going to press us high and in the spaces in the middle of the pitch having a dribbler in the middle of the pitch who's elusive and hard to pick up can be a big threat," he told Sky Sports.
"I think it's his first goal in the Premier League he'll be happy to have that of his back and he's improving."
"The first half, it's a blow to concede the early goal but I thought as the half went on we grew in the ascendancy, and the intensity of pressing and work on the ball.
"I thought we were the dominant team in the first half and deserved to be going in at least level. Second half in fairness, Man Utd had more control. It was difficult, we had to defend with real discipline on shape."
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
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