Rodgers criticises ´careless´ Celtic after Aberdeen fight back in thriller

Brendan Rodgers hit out at a careless approach from his Celtic team after they squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with fellow Scottish Premiership pacesetters Aberdeen.

Celtic looked set to end Jimmy Thelin’s perfect start to life as Aberdeen manager, and go three points clear at the summit, when they raced into a 2-0 lead.

Kyogo Furuhashi teed up Reo Hatate to give them a 24th-minute advantage, then got on the scoresheet himself with a thumping finish just three minutes later.

However, the Dons launched a stirring fightback to leave Glasgow with a point as Ester Sokler and Graeme Shinnie netted in the second half to salvage a draw.

Celtic fired off 32 shots to Aberdeen’s eight throughout the course of the game, racking up 3.21 expected goals (xG) to the visitors’ 1.15.

Speaking after the game, Rodgers bemoaned their failure to put Aberdeen away as he said: “We are disappointed. We had good control of the game in the first half.

“We could have had more goals. We got punished for a really careless period. We found our rhythm again. I think it was 32 shots.

“A mixture of some really good defending and great saves from the goalkeeper meant we could not find the winner. We should win the game today, there is no doubt about that.”

Aberdeen boss Thelin, meanwhile, was delighted with the resilience on display from his side, saying: “It was a really emotional game.

“We said at half-time, we have to calm down a little and come back to our strategy. We needed to find a way and to do that was to be a little more true to ourselves.

“I think we have an amazing squad and team spirit. We have had some late winners this season, showing our mentality.”