Celtic boss Ronny Deila delighted as side continue winning sequence
Sunday 13 December 2015 17:18, UK
Celtic manager Ronny Deila was delighted to see his side continue a notable winning sequence with a 3-0 success at St Johnstone on Sunday afternoon.
A brace from Nadir Ciftci and a Dedryck Boyata header won the day - but not before the Perth side had given Craig Gordon and his defensive cohorts a thorough first-half work-out.
It was the 10th time this season that Celtic - who drew 1-1 with Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday - have followed up a European game with a domestic victory.
As well as saluting the all-round resolve of his side, the manager was happy to single out Gordon and Ciftci - who started in the absence of the injured Leigh Griffiths - for individual praise.
Deila said: "It was very good. St Johnstone are one of the best in Scotland. They were on a good run and we had only played two-and-a-half days ago in Europe and we won 3-0. You can't expect much more.
"I'm very happy for Craig Gordon. Today Craig showed his class, he was very important in first half. But the whole defence had to deal with a lot of crosses.
"We have talked so much about the defence needing to get settled but now you are seeing that there is more consistency and improvement. This is also the 10th time we have come back from Europe and won this season. I'm not sure if the club has done that before.
"I'm so happy for Nadir today also. Now he has had two games in a row and we know he can do things. Today he was strong and scored twice.
"You have to play to score and Leigh has been unbelievable this season and you can't take out a goalscorer. We know we don't have to rely on Leigh all the time."
Deila said he had spoken to Emilio Izaguirre concerning the tragic death of his compatriot Arnold Peralta, who was shot dead in Honduras this week.
The Hoops left-back wore a T-shirt with a message in memory of his former Honduras team-mate and ex-Rangers midfielder.
He said: "I talked to him and he was ready. I trust my players and he did a good job today. It was hard for him but he wanted to play."
"It was hard for him, but he wanted to play and I am very pleased with the way he got through that game, if you take into consideration the circumstances.
"He made that choice himself and it was important that I didn't have it over his head."
St Johnstone were tasting defeat for the first time in eight games but manager Tommy Wright insisted they would not be dwelling on the loss in the home dressing room.
He said: "I'm always disappointed when we lose but I'll get over that quickly because I'm not disappointed with the performance. We created some good chances and hit the post against a quality side and we'll dust ourselves down and go again.
"There was some good goalkeeping, but we probably could have been more ruthless in front of goal and we end up losing the game because we gave away two goals from corners. We can only look at ourselves,"
St Johnstone host third-placed Hearts on Saturday December 19 while Celtic entertain Motherwell the same day.
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