Rodgers says Celtic's history 'built on late goals' after late winner at Fir Park

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his side’s never say die attitude after their injury time win over Motherwell and said the club’s history is “built on late goals”.

Matt O’Riley scored in the seventh minute of injury time to seal all three-points for the champions at Fir Park on Saturday.

The Steelmen looked like they had secured a draw with their own late goal in the 94th minute of the game to make it 1-1 after Luis Palma’s opening goal came with only three minutes left on the clock.

But the Hoops had enough time to go up the other end and make it 2-1 in a result that strengthens their grip on top spot as they move four points ahead of second placed St Mirren, who drew with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, and seven ahead of city-rivals Rangers who lost 3-1 to Aberdeen at Ibrox.

Speaking after the game Rodgers, who returned to Parkhead after a three-year spell at Leicester City, insisted that late goals are a hallmark of the club.

He said: “I’ve said it many times, this club’s history is built on late goals and it’s what comes with knowing you have to keep running and keep fighting until the very, very end, and that mentality served us well.

“It was a fantastic win. We deserved to win and we were the dominant team.

“They had a couple of moments of counter-attack where we had to be careful, and I think the only thing that was missing was a little bit more quality in the final third of the pitch.

“But our persistence was superb. We kept going and the players kept calm, which was important. We then ended up getting the first goal and it looked like that would be the winning goal.’

“We were disappointed with equaliser – we’ve got to be more aggressive around the box to defend that and go with the run.

“I think the calmness was what won it in the end. We didn’t just go lumping the ball forward, especially when they got the equaliser. We worked it, we got into good areas and then when we were in the right areas, we delivered.

“So I’m really proud of the team. They’re building this resilience and this mentality under a differenct manager and I’m very proud of them today.

“It was a great cross by Greg and Matty’s got another goal, arriving in the box and it was a fantastic finish.

“So, all in all, a great win for us and fantastic for the supporters behind the goal.”