Brendan Rodgers: Players produced a brilliant performance | OneFootball

It was a night and a performance to remember for Celtic under the Paradise lights tonight as Brendan Rodgers’ men came from a goal behind to defeat Sturm Graz 2-1 in the third Europa League match of the campaign.

The Austrians took the lead through a tremendous first-half goal from Tomi Horvat, but throughout the match, the Hoops created chance after chance, and when the equaliser from Liam Scales eventually came, the relief inside Celtic Park was palpable.

That goal was quickly followed up by a finish from Benjamin Nygren to put Celtic ahead and ultimately secure a thoroughly deserved three points for the Hoops.

Speaking to Celtic TV after tonight’s win, Brendan Rodgers heaped praise on to his players for how they approached the game as he highlighted the importance of the win ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tynecastle.

“I thought we were brilliant in the game,” the Celtic manager said. “I mentioned beforehand that with pressure you can go two ways.

“You can either make progress or you can crumble, and the performance of the players showed that they progressed so much tonight.

“We really dominated a very good team in Sturm Graz. You can see the goals they’ve scored and the physicality they have.

“I’ve said before that there are always games in your season that can be the turning point and I think that tonight is an all-round performance against a good side.

“Now we have to recover because we have a big game on Sunday and we have to put that same energy and focused mentality in to that game.”

You can watch Brendan Rodgers’ full post-match interview below.

Fixtures

Celtic Vs. SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz - Thu, Oct 23rd 2025, 20:00 Final score: 2 - 1 Match Report