SME News Balkan. By [Ahmed Elashry]Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has fired back at \u201coutside experts\u201d after his side produced a stirring comeback to beat Sturm Graz 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.The Scottish champions arrived in Austria under heavy scrutiny, having suffered a 2-0 defeat to Dundee at the weekend and gone seven European matches without a win since January. That pressure only intensified when Tomi Horvat put the hosts ahead with a stunning 30-yard strike in the first half.But Rodgers\u2019 men responded in style. Goals from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren after the break secured Celtic\u2019s first Europa League victory of the season and lifted the mood among travelling supporters.> \u201cIt was a brilliant performance,\u201d Rodgers told. \u201cI mentioned beforehand that after setbacks, you need that motivation to go and show leadership. From pressure \u2014 and there was pressure going into the game \u2014 you can make progress. I thought the players did that. Our attacking play and energy were much more like what we want.\u201dThe result came just days after Rodgers made headlines for comparing his current squad to a \u201cHonda Civic\u201d when asked about expectations following Celtic\u2019s sluggish start to the campaign \u2014 a remark some pundits took as a dig at his players.Responding to the criticism after the win in Graz, the Celtic boss didn\u2019t hold back.> \u201cMaybe all the outside experts will say it was poor management and it would never work,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cBut for me, these players know how much I trust them. Sometimes you have to be harsh to be clear. These are men \u2014 at a big club where competition and effort are everything.\u201dRodgers praised the mentality of his side for overturning their deficit, insisting the performance represented the true Celtic spirit.> \u201cWe were so good in the game. We had to come from behind to a brilliant goal, but we didn\u2019t get disappointed \u2014 we stayed focused, and the football was excellent,\u201d he added. \u201cAs poor as we were on Sunday, tonight was the total opposite.\u201dThe victory eases some of the growing pressure on Rodgers and restores belief ahead of a crucial run of domestic fixtures as Celtic look to close the gap on Premiership leaders Hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SME News Balkan. By [Ahmed Elashry]Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has fired back at \u201coutside experts\u201d after his side produced a stirring comeback to beat Sturm Graz 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.The Scottish champions arrived in Austria under heavy scrutiny, having suffered a 2-0 defeat to Dundee at the weekend and gone…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\n