BRENDAN Rodgers, the Celtic manager, revealed last night that he has been surprised his side haven’t been awarded more penalties in Scotland.
Rodgers’s team defeated Motherwell 2-0 in the Betfred Cup final at Hampden on Sunday after being awarded a hotly-disputed spot kick during the second half.
Scott Sinclair went to ground following a challenge by Cedric Kipre and referee Craig Thomson gave a penalty, which Moussa Dembele converted, and then sent the defender off.
Stephen Robinson, the Motherwell manager, was incensed at both decisions, which he felt had effectively ended the Fir Park club’s hopes of winning the trophy.
However, Rodgers has praised Sinclair for being “clever” and insisted the match official had called it correctly because Kipre had made no attempt to play the ball.
The Northern Irishman also admitted that he had expected his players to win more penalties since arriving in this country last year due to how much they attack opposition teams.
“Scott’s not a diver,” he said. “There was contact. I’ve seen it again, it’s a definite penalty.
“I think Scott was clever, there’s no doubt, but I think probably what the referee is looking at is that there was no intent for the ball. I think that was enough to award the penalty.
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“He’s so fast and I think the boy’s intent was to pull him back. So even if he doesn’t go down, he pulls him, it’s a penalty.
“I think the harsh thing for Stephen is then the double-whammy as you lose your man and that’s very tough in a final when you go two goals down and are chasing the ball.”
Rodgers continued: “We probably get less penalties than what I’d expect us to do for the number of times that we arrive in the box.
“Scotty always has done. You can trace back his career to with me at Swansea and we got a lot of penalties there.
“Why? Because we had so many players in that area and attacking and being aggressive in the final third of the pitch.
“It’s was the same at Liverpool and it’s the same here, but I don’t think we get so many.”
Rodgers had been publicly critical of Motherwell’s robust playing style after their Betfred Cup semi-final win over Rangers and had called on referees to show authority.
But the cup final passed off without any major incidents or serious injuries and Rodgers was full of praise for how Robinson’s men, who they play again in the Ladbrokes Premiership at Fir Park tomorrow evening, had played the match.
“I didn’t think it was an aggressive game,” he said. “In fairness to Motherwell they are a very honest team, good boys, good pros, doing their best.
“They work hard, they have a way of playing which is different to ours, they get it up there and challenge you, but we’ve got two boys at centre-half that can deal with that in (Dedryck) Boyata and (Jozo) Simunovic.
“They can head it and they’re aggressive and with those two together again it’s another clean sheet for us. It was a great victory for us.”
Rodgers admitted he was an admirer of Louis Moult, the Motherwell striker who tested Craig Gordon with a second half header on Sunday, and acknowledge his team would have to pay close attention to him again tomorrow.
“He’s a good player, he’s a good finisher, he’s a danger,” he said. “You see the save Craig Gordon made, it was a brilliant save. He’s just nicked it round the corner. If he gets chances and in a team that gets chances he’s a definite threat.
“He’s a finisher and I think they probably know they’ll struggle to hold onto him, but in fairness to the boy he gives them everything and he’s a major threat for them.”
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