Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted his side were too negative in their passing in the second half at Rugby Park after Kilmarnock came from behind to win 2-1.

Matt O’Riley netted from close range to earn Celtic a deserved half-time lead but Killie had missed two excellent chances and they created plenty more opportunities after the interval.

They were eventually rewarded when Nat Phillips converted Brad Lyons’ cross into his own net in the 75th minute and the home side took further confidence before Matty Kennedy finished off a counter-attack with three minutes left.

Rodgers said: “I thought in the first half we were very good. We played at a good speed and created opportunities. We could have maybe have been more than 1-0 up by half-time.

“But in the second half we never got started. You expect a wee bit of pressure for 10 or 15 minutes, which we weathered at set-pieces and corners. But we never passed the ball.

“We were under a bit more pressure, sure, but you have to be resistant to that pressure. We weren’t able to make passes to take us up the pitch and that was the biggest disappointment of the second half. We couldn’t sustain any attacking threat in the game.

“When you play Kilmarnock it’s quite a direct game so you have to be able to win the first, second and third balls. But we didn’t do that.”

Rodgers was angrier than he had ever been as a manager when his side trailed against St Johnstone at half-time seven days earlier before coming back to win. But he was more measured in his response after a first cinch Premiership defeat of the season.

“The players know themselves,” Rodgers said. “We spoke after the game about how this isn’t how we want to do.

“In the second half we played their game instead of playing our game. I thought we got rid of the ball in the second half instead of passing it. And there is a big difference.

“We ended up being too negative in our passing. If you play a team that’s pressing and right up against you there, you’ve got to pass the ball forward. Because that forward pass eliminates pressure. And we weren’t able, for some reason, to do that.”

Rodgers has now lost 10 domestic games over two spells as Celtic manager and four of them have been at Rugby Park.

“I thought the pitch was all right for an AstroTurf surface,” he said. “When you get rain, it makes it slick, and it was actually good, but in the British game you have to have that adaptability.”

Killie manager Derek McInnes had harsh words for his players at half-time in a bid to get them to the levels they showed when beating Celtic in the Viaplay Cup in August.

“I had to give the players a wee reminder of the team that we need to be, particularly at Rugby Park, the team we needed to be against Celtic,” he said.

“Celtic came and dominated the ball and dictated the play. They were almost playing with us really, with the ball. They were just kind of coaxing us into mistakes.

“Even when we got the ball we looked unsure of ourselves.

“We had to be braver, we had to take a step forward and I thought Stuart Findlay was immense at the back. We had to defend a lot of space behind us and with that comes that element of risk.

“We had big performances second half when it was the total reverse of the first. It was everything I wanted from my team.

“I thought we passed up too many opportunities before we did score and thankfully when we did get the goal you could just sniff the victory, you could feel it. More importantly my players felt it and thankfully we got the second goal that I felt we deserved.

“I’m delighted we managed to turn it round because coming from behind is always difficult when you play against a team like Celtic.”

Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu feels he reaped rewards for carrying out his instructions as he capitalised on a rare start.

The South Korea international netted twice in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Hibernian in only his second start under Brendan Rodgers.

The 22-year-old now has five goals for the season.

“I was very happy to get the opportunity to be in the starting XI and personally I was very happy to score two goals,” he said.

“I just tried not to be too lazy, to do what the manager told me, so it was important for me to play aggressively.

“I think I managed to do that. It’s important for me to take these opportunities whenever I am in the starting line-up.

“I don’t get that many opportunities to start but whenever they come I play like it’s my last game.

“I try to do what the manager asks and if I do my best, the goals tend to follow.

“I want to grasp these opportunities when they come. Every training session feels like a competition but the manager and coaching staff all help me with lots of advice.”

Oh showed pace, strength and finishing prowess for his second goal but his first owed much to Cameron Carter-Vickers getting on the end of a corner and guiding the ball towards goal, where it brushed off the striker on its way into the net.

Oh laughed: “It was a very important touch! I don’t think anyone realised I had touched it – none of the players believed me.

“Even the stadium announcer said it was Cameron’s goal… I said no, no no!

“I was very thankful to Cameron for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the goal.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised Oh Hyeon-gyu for seizing his chance after the South Korea striker hit a double in a 4-1 win over Hibernian.

Oh got the final touch as Celtic opened the scoring from a fifth-minute set-piece and he ran on to Callum McGregor’s ball down the channel, brushed off Will Fish and slotted home in the 55th minute, shortly before making way for Kyogo Furuhashi.

It was only the 22-year-old’s second start under Rodgers while the Celtic manager brought holding midfielder Tomoki Iwata and winger Mikey Johnston into his line-up for the first time.

After his side maintained their eight-point lead over Rangers in the cinch Premiership, Rodgers said: “I said this was a month where players would get a chance. Tommo came in and did really well, Oh was excellent.

“He was a really good reference for the team, his hold-up play, in the box he’s there and obviously his second goal shows he can also run in behind.

“Great strength and then really good composure. I was really pleased with him. He came into the game and did really well.

“Mikey has been better off the bench but he deserved his start because of the impact he has had. It’s just being more aggressive in his running but he deserved his start.

“Especially in this period of the season, you need to have freshness at the top end of the field in particular. Changing two out of the front three gave us that freshness.

“Kyogo can’t play every game but when you have someone like Oh who can come in and make an impact, it’s good.”

Rodgers also handed Cameron Carter-Vickers a rest in the second half after the defender reported a minor hamstring issue, while Greg Taylor came off after playing through illness.

The champions also netted through Matt O’Riley’s header and Luis Palma’s penalty but Hibs deserved some reward for their enterprising play and got it when substitute Christian Doidge netted from close range.

Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery had some frustration over referee John Beaton’s VAR-assisted penalty award for Lewis Stevenson’s challenge on Alistair Johnston.

“I said to the boys at half-time, both the goals were really avoidable,” he said. “I think we probably had the two best chances of the first half, two one-on-ones, two big saves from Joe Hart.

“Second half we started quite brightly and for me it’s a soft penalty. The crowd shout for it and he goes to the VAR and he looks at it in slow motion.

“We have probably had five or six of those incidents in my time at the club and we have never had a penalty. It never goes to VAR.

“The player that went down didn’t think it was a penalty, he said that to the boys.

“If we are going to go to VAR and have a look at every incident, there’s going to be a lot more free-kicks, a lot more cards, a lot more penalties, because when you slow everything down there is always some element where you could change your decision.

“Three-nil away at Celtic, two soft goals and a penalty, and we didn’t take our chances, so it’s an uphill task.

“But I was really proud of the effort, the way we played. The boys were brave and we had some really good passages of play.”

Captain Callum McGregor believes victory over Feyenoord in their final Champions League game would be no more than Celtic deserved in a doomed campaign.

Lazio’s 2-0 triumph over the Hoops in Rome on Tuesday night confirmed last place in Group E for Brendan Rodgers’ side, who will not have European football of any kind in the second half of the season.

Substitute Ciro Immobile’s two late goals kept Celtic on one point from five fixtures before they host Feyenoord next month and McGregor believes it is vital that the Scottish champions, who will finish bottom in their Champions League group for the second straight year, finish on a high.

The Scotland midfielder told Celtic’s YouTube channel: “It’s massively important. If nothing else, we feel like we deserve it.

“We feel like we’ve played well enough to certainly have more than one point. So, if we get the result then it’s probably been deserved over the piece.

“Obviously we want to finish strong, we are at home, we want to get the crowd behind us and try to get them a little bit of hope for maybe next season’s competition as well.

“So there’s definitely a lot to play for, and when you put on a Celtic jersey you’re always playing for everything. So we will certainly be going into that last game trying to win and do everyone proud.”

Celtic gave as good as they got for most of the match until the classy Immobile struck in the 82nd and 85th minutes to keep the three points in the Italian capital.

The Hoops were awarded a penalty by referee Halil Umut Meler in added time for a push on substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu but it was rescinded when the VAR intervened and sent the Turkish official to the pitchside monitor for another look.

For McGregor, he has seen it all before.

He said: “We are gutted. A little bit of the same old story – play well, don’t take chances and then you get hit with a sucker-punch and the second one kills the game.

“It is tough to take because I think everyone can see that we are well in the game, controlling the tempo and the flow of the game. And to be honest, at some point, we have to try and win so you open up a little bit and you get done with good quality.

“I have been saying this all through the competition – you’re playing against top players. They bring on a top player and he scores two goals – two really good striker’s goals.

“We do really well for 60-65 minutes and, when the game maybe opens up or the game gets a little bit difficult, we then need to get to grips with the game and regain control and, again, that comes with experience.

“I think that’s been the difference. When teams have had the moments in games, they have scored.

“We have started really well in quite a lot of the games. Obviously when we go away in the first two games, we go down to nine men (at Feyenoord) and 10 men (at Atletico Madrid), which makes it almost impossible at this level. So there was another learning curve.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has told his players they need to create their own buzz at Parkhead after a flat afternoon against Motherwell.

With the Green Brigade ultras group still banned, the visiting fans were generally more audible than the home support during Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

Apart from David Turnbull’s goal, the biggest noise from Celtic fans was pre-match when the ultras group welcomed the team bus before heading away from the stadium.

Celtic struggled to break down a dogged Motherwell side, who had a similar amount of efforts at goal as their hosts in the first half.

It was one-way traffic for the vast majority of the second half but Luis Palma saw a penalty saved by Liam Kelly and Yang Hyun-jun missed a sitter before Jonathan Obika headed a last-minute equaliser four minutes after Turnbull converted Celtic’s second spot-kick.

Rodgers acknowledged there was a flat atmosphere but added: “There was probably that in the last game as well but we were winning 6-0, still the same. It is something on the pitch, we have to make it happen.

“We have enough of the ball, got into some really good areas, we just missed that final moment of combination play and that final moment of quality that allows you to get in front and opens the game up.

“The longer it goes 0-0, that gives Motherwell that enthusiasm to keep going.”

Celtic remained eight points clear with one more game played following the weekend’s action after second-placed Rangers drew at Aberdeen on Sunday.

Rodgers’ side now face Lazio in Rome with only a victory able to keep alive their slim hopes of progress in the Champions League.

“It is disappointing we have dropped two points, and we will look to get them back,” he said. “And now we have to recover and get ready with a really strong mindset for Tuesday. It is a fantastic game, highest level.”

With Palma suspended for the Rome trip and Daizen Maeda also unavailable, Rodgers is optimistic he will have James Forrest to bolster his wide options after the winger missed Saturday’s game.

“In the international break he had a problem with his glute so he hadn’t trained a lot,” Rodgers said. “So rather than sit on the bench he has some training days up until Tuesday and should be available for that.”

Motherwell collected only their third point from 10 matches and manager Stuart Kettlewell has challenged his side to use the well-drilled performance and late equaliser as a catalyst for improvement.

The Steelmen next face Dundee, Ross County and St Johnstone in the space of eight days.

“This has to become a benchmark for us, coming to a place like this and getting a result,” Kettlewell said.

“It has to be a milestone where we use it as a springboard and kick on and start to amass more points because it’s been a tough stretch for us.

“We have had good times and obviously had this bad run, but we now need to come out the other side of it and start to compete with teams that are probably in the ball park with ourselves.

“If we show that type of organisation and level of concentration then I think it gives us a chance against most.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is still looking for answers to their penalty problem after Luis Palma missed from 12 yards in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

The Hoops missed three penalties last season and Palma followed David Turnbull and Reo Hatate in missing from the spot since Rodgers returned.

Turnbull did convert a penalty in the 86th minute after Palma went off, but Jonathan Obika headed a last-minute equaliser.

Palma scored from the spot against Aberdeen last time out, but Liam Kelly dived to his right to parry in the 66th minute and deny Celtic a platform to look for further goals.

Rodgers said: “I was looking before I came in here that there have been a number of penalties missed.

“These are decisive moments in games and you have to be ready to take them. You are never always going to be three, four, five up in games. You get that opportunity, you have to take it.

“It is something that the players who are going to be the penalty takers are working on every day.

“We have to stay focused on that because it is a skill. You can’t replicate the pressure, but penalties are a skill and a skill we have to be better at.

“The keeper’s made a decent save. It’s all about variety with penalty takers. I know he practised (on Friday), he didn’t go that side, he was working on the keeper’s left.

“But that is the choice he made. He is brave enough to take them.”

Rodgers felt the cinch Premiership leaders were missing “that little bit of freshness and zip in the final third” as they moved nine points ahead of Rangers, who have two games in hand.

He added:  “We should win the game. Obviously we had enough of the ball. We got into a lot of good areas and obviously (had) chances to be more comfortable. It is always a danger when you are not.

“But credit to Motherwell, they defended really well and we never had enough to break them down.

“But when we did get the opportunity to go in front then every moment after that is a decisive one. I think it was probably their only effort in the second half and we never defended it, which was a surprise because we have been defending set-pieces well.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell did not feel Celtic should have had a second penalty after Calum Butcher was penalised for holding Mikey Johnston.

Kettlewell attended a meeting with the Scottish Football Association’s referees department on Thursday where it was explained that such incidents would only be punished if the attacking player has a chance of getting on the ball.

He said: “If the officials are telling me something when I go and sit for two-and-a-half hours with chief executives and managers when that exact incident came up in one of the clips and there were conversations around whether the player was going to get on the end of it and whether every contact in the box is a penalty.

“From the angle I’ve seen Calum Butcher is adamant he didn’t pull the jersey. His palm is resting on the waist.

“The guys from Celtic will maybe think it’s justified, but I think it’s incredibly soft.”

It was only Motherwell’s third point from 10 games and Kettlewell said: “It indicates to everyone how together we are as a football club and a group of players. They gave us absolutely everything out there.

“A lot of people will say we should be looking to be more progressive and to create more chances in the game. Well, that was everything that I asked of the players.

“Of course we want to try to win games, but to concede that second penalty and go behind we showed brilliant personality and character to get ourselves back into the game.”

Matt O’Riley believes Celtic need to use Kyogo Furuhashi even more after the Japan striker scored his ninth goal of the season in the 6-0 thrashing of Aberdeen on Sunday.

The Hoops went into the game on the back of a 6-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday but they blew the Dons away starting with South Korean forward Yang Hyun-jun’s first goal for the league leaders in the ninth minute.

Furuhashi was more than grateful that O’Riley set him up for the second soon after to take his goal ratio for club and country so far this season to almost one in two games.

Winger Luis Palma scored a penalty in the 76th minute and the Hoops struck three times in 10 added minutes at the end of the game, with Celtic substitutes David Turnbull and Oh Hyeon-gyu, twice, notching as Brendan Rodgers’ men restored their eight-point lead over Rangers at the top of the table.

O’Riley said of “nice man” Furuhashi, who had to go off with a head knock in the second half: “Me and him have a really good relationship on the pitch and I think probably 70 percent of the assists I have for Celtic have been for him, and that shows how good he is to play with, and how easy is to play with him.

“His movement’s top class. I actually think we need to use his runs a little bit more because his movement’s so good.

“He deserves the ball to be given to him because he works hard to create the space for himself. We need to keep utilising him because he’s our best goalscorer and that would be helpful going forwards.”

O’Riley described the response to the mauling in Madrid which left them bottom of their Champions League table as “perfect”, and believes such a convincing domestic result had been on the cards.

He said: “I think a result like that was pending in the league, to be honest.

“We’ve put in enough good performances and it was time – with the utmost respect – that we gave someone a real doing.

“There were a lot of chances created and it could’ve been more. It was needed.

“I shanked one from about three yards, so was a questionable finish.

“But we were on it right from the start with our runs in behind. We let them know they were going to be in for a game right from the start and we maintained that level throughout.

“We tire teams out, the way we play. And I think when you are 3-0 down at Celtic Park and you have been running for 90 minutes and haven’t had much of the ball, naturally you are going to be tired.

“The spaces do open up and we had boys coming off the bench for the last half hour ready to fire. James (Forrest), and then Bull (David Turnbull) comes on and scores. I think having that strength in depth to come on and really push the fitness levels, it is hard for teams to live with.”

Brendan Rodgers praised his Celtic side for quickly erasing their Champions League pain with a 6-0 thrashing of Aberdeen at Parkhead.

The Hoops were chastened by a 6-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in their Champions League group stage game in Spain on Tuesday night, where they ended up with 10 men following the dismissal of Daizen Maeda and bottom of the table.

However, they blitzed an abject Dons side in their cinch Premiership encounter, with South Korean forward Yang Hyun-jun scoring his first Celtic goal in the ninth minute before Japan striker Kyogo Furuhashi added a second seven minutes later in an utterly dominant first half.

Winger Luis Palma scored from the spot in the 76th minute and in 10 added minutes at the end of the game, the home side scored three goals, with substitutes David Turnbull and Oh Hyeon-gyu, twice, on target as Celtic restored their eight-point lead over Rangers at the top of the table.

“I said to the players before the game, throughout your footballing season and life you have painful points, but how you respond is where you are judged,” said Rodgers, who revealed Furuhashi would not be travelling to Japan this week to stay behind for treatment for a head knock which saw him taken off.

“If you look after St Johnstone here (0-0) we go to Rangers and win, after Feyenoord away (0-2) we go to Livingston and win.

“Obviously we had a challenging game in midweek just because of the circumstances.

“It is then how you respond today. I thought the players responded so well. They’ve done great in the game, created numerous opportunities.

“Look at Aberdeen’s record, especially away from home. Look at how tough they are to beat. They go to Frankfurt and do well, they go to Rangers and win.

“So they are a team who are tough to play against. But I thought our players today were absolutely fantastic. They showed some great football, great movement, great connection in the team. I was so pleased for them.”

It was a fifth successive away game for the Dons but after the hard-fought 2-2 draw against PAOK on Thursday night in Greece, Barry Robson was not for making excuses and admitted that he was “massively surprised” by the result.

He said: “You can look for excuses, but I’m not having that. Yes, we all know where we have been, but we still can’t come here and perform like that. So I’m not having that, either.

“It was a result I never saw coming at all. That is the biggest surprise, I never saw that coming.

“I am just angry because it is not us as a team. You have to learn that you can’t leave yourselves open, you have to learn to shut the back door and not lose more goals.

“I just think the first 15 minutes, we were not at it. We didn’t get close to anyone. Never put a tackle in and, as the half went on, got slightly better.

“Half-time, we tweaked a few tactical things and thought we started to look a lot better in the second half and then lost the penalty.

“And then I thought after that Celtic ran away with it and it was not good enough.

“Once you lose that third goal, you have got to get a structure, you’ve got to stay in the fight  and we just looked too open. It looked like they could score every time.”

Celtic forward Daizen Maeda faces six weeks out after suffering a knee injury in the challenge that earned him a red card against Atletico Madrid.

Maeda was initially booked following a 50-50 with Mario Hermoso but the yellow card was upgraded to a red following a VAR review.

The Japan attacker had left a leg dangling and Hermoso went down in dramatic fashion after catching Maeda’s studs as he followed through.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said: “Daizen will probably be up to six weeks out with the injury from the challenge. He has strained his medial knee ligament which comes from when you just knock a player on the foot.

“If he was in stronger in the challenge he probably wouldn’t have had the injury. The clash of feet has just opened up the knee ligament.

“It’s a big shame for us because he has been brilliant for me since I came here.

“It’s a big loss because his attitude and mentality going into every game is superb. He initiates the pressure for us at the top end.

“It’s a real shame because he has been like a machine since he came to Celtic, watching him before I arrived and then coming here and seeing what he does every day and in the games, he is incredible. He hasn’t had too many knocks.

“But I always say, it’s an opportunity for someone else to come in and play.”

The injury blow compounded Rodgers’ frustration with the decision to send Maeda off in the 6-0 Champions League defeat.

“You only have to assess the incident. Everyone could see if you know football at all that there was no intention, he was just overstretching and both players clash feet,” he said.

“The irony is that as soon as the red card went up, their player miraculously got up off the floor.”

Liam Scales admits Celtic need to be more streetwise in Europe.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have been very competitive with a full quota of players in the Champions League but three red cards in four games have proved costly.

Daizen Maeda’s dismissal in Spain on Tuesday led to a 6-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid, which leaves Celtic bottom of Group E with one point and in need of wins over Lazio and Feyenoord and favours from Diego Simeone’s team.

Centre-back Scales, who has not been booked in the Champions League, said of the red cards: “It’s probably that we are a young team and maybe a bit naive at times.

“You come and play in Europe and the referees, you get nothing out of them. They are a lot stricter and tackles that you might get away with domestically, they give.

“With VAR, you are going to pick up red cards in the way we’ve been doing.

“It’s frustrating, because I think with 11 players on the pitch we had started the game quite well.

“I know we had conceded earlier before the red card, but I thought we had quite a bit of the ball, and it definitely would have been a more even game with 11 men.”

Scales also believes they need to learn from the animated reaction of the Atletico bench when Maeda made his tackle and was initially booked, before VAR intervened.

Scales said: “To be honest, you see the way they react and all of their staff are up off the bench. It definitely doesn’t help.

“The VAR screen is right beside their bench as well, and he (the referee) was probably feeling the pressure.

“They are definitely more street-smart than us, that’s for sure, the way they influence the referee.

“It’s not the nicest part of the game, but it helps them win games and we could definitely learn from it.”

The manner of defeat has led to some soul-searching among the Celtic support about their level in European football but Scales pointed out they had drawn with Atletico two weeks earlier.

“I think we’re at the level, it’s just naivety and poor decisions at times have let us down,” the Republic of Ireland international said.

“Some of the goals, we could have defended better, we need to look back on that and see what we could have done better defensively.

“But it’s still difficult with 10 men away from home to get results at any level, and especially there.”

Celtic now travel to Rome needing a win on November 28.

“There’s a few games left in the group and now it’s just about bouncing back and doing as well as we can, because the Lazio game was so tight and it could have gone either way, and we feel that we can go there and get a result,” Scales said.

“It’s the same with Feyenoord at home. We were doing well in Feyenoord up until the couple of red cards, and the same happened here.

“I think we just have to bounce back, that’s it.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers likened modern football to a “computer game” after claiming Daizen Maeda was sent off following a needless VAR intervention in his side’s 6-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid.

Maeda saw a yellow card upgraded to red following a VAR review midway through the first half at the Estadio Metropolitano, but Rodgers felt referee made the right call initially.

The Japanese attacker dangled a leg in a 50-50 challenge with Mario Hermoso, who hurt himself as he followed through.

Celtic were already trailing to a deflected strike from Antoine Griezmann and Atletico took full advantage of the numerical superiority. Griezmann and Alvaro Morata both struck doubles, while Samuel Lino and Saul Niguez also scored as Atletico hit a string of spectacular second-half goals.

Rodgers said: “I think the red card is a big turning point. We started well, started with confidence, got into some really good areas. We then get a man sent off early, which was a huge disappointment because I didn’t feel it was a red card.

“When you watch the re-run, both players kick each other’s feet. The referee saw that in game time and then he is asked to look at it.

“The first image he sees is not representative of the actual challenge. You plant a seed when the first image he sees is Daizen Maeda’s foot up, but that wasn’t the challenge and it’s a really, really soft red card.

“For a team coming here with 11 against 11, you would need to be at your real max to get something out the game and losing a man early, it becomes a real challenge and we tire and they scored some fantastic goals.”

Rodgers was angered by the reaction of the Atletico bench after the Maeda challenge, with boss Diego Simeone and six or seven colleagues racing into the technical area to remonstrate.

He said: “They will play the game, they are obviously trying to get our player sent off.

“Listen, it’s still up to the ref. You come away in Europe and a place like this where it’s an emotional stadium, everyone will add pressure.

“The ref saw it in game time and didn’t deem it worthy of anything so serious, but it just feels like a computer game now, football. So many visits to the screen, so many influences in the game.

“As time has gone on you see the influence of VAR and the difficulties referees have. There’s a lot of judgements going on away from the field.

“It’s not so much the technology, but how it is implemented. It’s not something I enjoy.

“When it first came out I was very much wanting to support it and hoped it would improve the game, because I think everyone thought the utopia of VAR would mean we would lose all these bad decisions.

“But you could argue there’s even more now. There’s a good percentage where it just doesn’t feel right in the game.”

Rodgers maintained a 4-3-2 formation after the red card, with Oh Hyeon-gyu coming on at half-time.

“You have seen my teams enough back home,” he said. “Whenever we lose a man it’s having that structure.

“Listen, you can have any structure you want, it can be very, very difficult against that level of opponent. It just didn’t work for us so we have to take our medicine.”

Celtic remain bottom of Group E but are still not eliminated from the Champions League, although they will need to beat both Lazio and Feyenoord and hope Atletico do them some favours to stay in Europe beyond Christmas.

Rodgers said: “We knew we had to take something from this game, but with Lazio winning as well, our objective with two games to go is to get points and see if we can improve on last season’s points total.”

Brendan Rodgers hailed Celtic’s traditional never-say-die spirit following their late 2-1 cinch Premiership win over St Mirren at Parkhead.

Saints attacker Conor McMenamin headed the visitors in front in the seventh minute but returning Hoops midfielder David Turnbull levelled in the 18th minute with a fine strike before hitting the post with a penalty just before the half-hour mark.

The league leaders kept chipping away in the second half and eventually got their reward in the 83rd minute when South Korean attacker Oh Hyeon-gyu took a pass from fellow substitute Odin Thiago Holm and fired high past excellent Buddies goalkeeper Zach Hemming.

The Celtic boss smiled as he said: “It was coming.”

He added: “Listen, it’s one of those ones – you know the game lasts 90 plus minutes so you trust your team.

“They’ve scored late goals already this season. It’s the make-up of this club to keep going and persevere.

“I was really just pleased with the quality of the winning goal. We saw that at Motherwell when we got that winner (Matt O’Riley) late on.

“With 80-odd minutes on the clock here, you can start to panic but we worked the ball really well.

“The goal was terrific. Of course you can never be sure but I trust the team that they will keep going until the end and when you do that opportunities will come.

“It’s part of the value of this team – that ability to keep going. When you bring in players you are always looking for players who have that resilience in their make-up.

“It’s part of what you do when you recruit a player. When you play for a club like this one, there’s no choice – you keep fighting, you keep running and allow your quality to come through and that’s exactly what happened.

“We had a penalty and Kyogo (Furuhashi) had a chance as well. So we could have been more comfortable in the scoreline.

“At 2-1, you just want to grind it out and get the result.”

It was Oh’s first goal of the season and Rodgers was pleased for the South Korean.

Rodgers said: “It was a great finish. Nice little very combination with Kyogo and Odin can shoot if he’s selfish. But he plays a lovely pass in and the big guy takes his touch and it’s a wonderful finish.

“I’m really pleased for him. For the guys who aren’t playing so much, you always have to recognise and acknowledge their efforts which I did with them.

“He looks after his body, his diet, everything is superb. He’s so professional, he looks at his training and he knows when asked upon he can come in and make an impact. And what an impact.”

St Mirren remain in third place and boss Stephen Robinson also praised his side as he acknowledged the quality of Celtic’s goals.

He said: “We got beat by a fantastic goal. Sometime you look for fault but it was a fantastic goal and so was the first one.

“Defensively we were excellent, Zach Hemming made three fantastic saves.

“I have nothing but credit and praise for the players.

“To be disappointed shows we have come a long way but we are a good side and I have a lot of confidence in these players.

“We got beat by quality but in terms of where we want to go it was a big statement in terms of performance.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his side’s “terrific performance” after a 2-2 Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid.

Celtic twice took the lead in the first half through Kyogo Furuhashi and Luis Palma, who netted shortly after Antoine Griezmann had netted the rebound from his own penalty.

Celtic played with pace, purpose and confidence in the first half and both goals came after excellent moves, but they could not keep up the tempo after the break and Alvaro Morata levelled eight minutes into the second half.

Rodgers said: “I thought it was a terrific performance, especially the first 45 minutes – the quality of our football, the speed in our pressing and in our game, everything we would want.

“We were unfortunate with the penalty. One, it was very harsh, and, two, they got the good fortune after the save hits the post and comes straight to the player.

“But our reaction was superb, everything I wanted in terms of playing together, pressing and the intensity and a really aggressive mentality and then having the courage to play.

“We expected them second half to have a spell in the game but they didn’t create so much. Their equaliser was fantastic, the early cross and great finish.

“But we kept fighting and showed we can compete with a top-level team.

“It will give us confidence to know we can create opportunities and play the football we want to play. The team pressed the game well and passed it for a lot of the game.”

Rodgers, who revealed Reo Hatate had suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him off for Paulo Bernardo inside seven minutes, admitted it was difficult to maintain the intensity for 90 minutes.

Celtic never looked like taking the lead for a third time, despite Atletico going down to 10 men in the 82nd minute.

He added: “There’s a wee bit of tiredness that comes in the last 20 minutes because we are not used to playing at that tempo and against that level of opponent, so naturally a wee bit of fatigue kicks in. We also had to make an early sub with Reo’s injury.

“It was a really big performance but we couldn’t quite get the result we were looking for.”

Celtic are bottom of the group with one point from three games ahead of trips to Madrid and Lazio, the latter of whom have four points.

Rodgers said: “We wanted to get three points but if you can’t get the win then don’t lose it, and I don’t think we looked like losing. I can see development for sure.

“We have shown we can perform and we go into the other three trying to get as many points as we can and see where it takes us.”

Atletico manager Diego Simeone admitted his side had struggled to deal with Celtic in the first half.

“As expected, they started really well, as they did in their first two games,” he said.

“We really struggled to contain them early on and they scored with their first attack. We managed to respond but they quickly scored a fantastic goal.

“The first half didn’t go as we would have liked but I was really pleased with the second half, it was a real Champions League performance. We showed a lot of personality and responsibility.”

Simeone, who brought on Marcos Llorente and Rodrigo Riquelme at half-time, added: “In the first half we didn’t have the speed the game required, we weren’t up to scratch and they combined well in our half.

“But the subs had a big impact and we had better solutions in our passing game.”

Celtic twice lost a lead as they gained their first Champions League point in a 2-2 home draw with 10-man Atletico Madrid.

Kyogo Furuhashi got Celtic off to a flying start with his second goal in two Champions League games and Luis Palma quickly restored Celtic’s lead after Antoine Griezmann scored following his own saved penalty.

Celtic were deservedly on course for a first Champions League group-stage home win in 10 years following a first-half display full of pace and purpose but they started slowly after the break and Alvaro Morata levelled inside eight minutes of the restart.

The Scottish champions never rediscovered their spark – even after Atletico went down to 10 men in the 82nd minute – and their run without a home win at this level is now at 12 games.

Feyenoord’s win over Lazio left Celtic three points adrift of the Italians at the bottom of Group E, halfway through the campaign with trips to Spain and Rome to follow.

The build-up to the game had been dominated by internal and external strife.

Thousands of Celtic fans defied the club before kick-off by displaying Palestine flags, an act which will inevitably lead to UEFA sanctions.

Atletico’s decision to dispense with their striped shirts and wear an all-red top based on the one worn by the team that beat Celtic in the 1974 European Cup semi-finals also opened old wounds.

Two of the team that gained a goalless first-leg draw at Parkhead had travelled with the current side but the tribute did not go down well among the Celtic support given Atletico had three men sent off and seven others booked in that brutal encounter.

Furuhashi ignited the highly-charged atmosphere inside four minutes following a one-touch move. The Japan international twice exchanged passes with Matt O’Riley before taking a touch and slotting home from six yards.

There was a blow for Brendan Rodgers moments later when Reo Hatate went off injured. The Celtic manager brought on 21-year-old midfielder Paulo Bernardo, who is yet to start a game since his loan move from Benfica.

The home side remained positive, roared on by the crowd as they pressed Atletico high up the park, but the visitors levelled in the 25th minute after Greg Taylor was penalised for a trip on Nahuel Molina.

Joe Hart saved Griezmann’s penalty at full stretch but the France international dispatched the rebound.

Taylor atoned three minutes later when he played a searching ball beyond right-back Molina which sent Daizen Maeda in behind. The resulting cross found fellow winger Palma and the Honduran took a touch and rifled a shot in off the post.

Palma had been denied a late goal against Lazio three weeks ago by a marginal VAR ruling and an offside decision soon went Celtic’s way after Axel Witsel headed home from a set-piece.

O’Riley had earlier threatened with a first-time strike which was met with a diving save as Celtic continued to attack with verve.

Diego Simeone made two half-time changes and substitute Marcos Llorente vindicated his introduction within eight minutes as he crossed for Morata to equalise with a diving header.

Morata and Llorente both threatened and Rodgers responded by bringing on centre-back Nat Phillips for Palma and changing formation.

Atletico continued to boss possession and Celtic were contributing to their difficulties with some slack passing. Hart saved well from Morata after the Spain international turned Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Celtic got a lifeline when Argentinian midfielder Rodrigo de Paul received a second yellow card following a sliding tackle on Bernardo.

Substitute James Forrest shot not far over but Celtic could not seriously trouble the 10 men.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his players for meeting their Tynecastle challenge with some “wonderful football” in a 4-1 win over Hearts.

The cinch Premiership leaders restored their seven-point lead with a largely dominant display in front of 576 of their own fans in a reduced allocation and more than 17,000 Hearts supporters.

Matt O’Riley volleyed his sixth goal of the season inside four minutes and Celtic remained in control. Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi netted before the 51st minute and Reo Hatate hit the post with a penalty.

Lawrence Shankland pulled one back in the 64th minute but substitute Tomoki Iwata fired his first goal for Celtic to kill off any slim hopes of a comeback.

Rodgers said: “It was important that we started the game well, and try to bring an energy and speed to the game which would make it difficult for Hearts, because I have been here enough times to know that if you don’t make a good start here it can be a challenge.

“But the players played some wonderful football and worked ever so hard.”

Celtic have now won six consecutive league matches and appear to be finding more fluidity in their play.

Rodgers said: “It’s a constant evolution, there’s not a destination to where we want to go, it’s just continual improvement and finding levels and the big thing is consistency.

“It’s obviously a very difficult ground to come to but I love challenges like this, coming to really hostile environments because it’s an opportunity for you to show your value as a team, dealing with difficult circumstances, and the players dealt with it ever so well.

“The only criticism is we could have scored more goals and managed the ball a bit better after we scored the fourth goal, so we didn’t have to run so much.

“But overall, after an international break, where a lot of these guys were a wee bit heavy-legged towards the end, a lot of travel, what they gave the game was absolutely brilliant.”

Hearts manager Steven Naismith bemoaned his side’s start and the way they allowed Celtic chances.

Naismith started with a positive line-up with Kenneth Vargas told to run beyond Shankland and Alan Forrest and Alex Lowry supporting the front players. But their chances when undermined when O’Riley ran away from marker Calem Nieuwenhof and volleyed home Luis Palma’s lofted pass.

“We gave up really sloppy goals,” said Naismith, whose team let slip a two-goal lead against Hibernian in their previous match.

“That’s the last two games that the goals we conceded are not at the level where we should be at and want to be at. How sloppy they were and when we concede them is mental.

“It doesn’t give you a chance to get into the game when you lose a goal after three minutes. And that was the theme throughout the game, the goals are avoidable.

“Our intensity when we are pressing and closing down wasn’t good enough and in the game there are split-seconds when players are making decisions and ultimately they are going to decide if it’s a good action or bad action. Every goal we picked the wrong action.”