Celtic won their first trophy under Brendan Rodgers as they beat Aberdeen 3-0.
Alex McLeish has been full of praise for James Forrest after the winger helped Celtic claim the first trophy of Brendan Rodgers’ tenure, The Scottish Sun reports.
The Hoops beat Aberdeen 3-0 at Hampden Park to claim the Scottish League Cup. And while several of the Bhoys squad will emerge from the contest with credit, Forrest was undeniably particularly crucial to their success.
Celtic’s James Forrest celebrates
After Tom Rogic had given Celtic the lead after 16 minutes, it was Forrest who doubled the team’s advantage eight minutes before the break as he drove the ball into the same corner that Rogic had found.
And victory was virtually assured as his clever movement and excellent touch led to him being brought down inside the box, which allowed Moussa Dembele to add a third.
Celtic’s James Forrest and Aberdeen’s Kenny McLean
And following the game, McLeish explained how impressed he had been with Forrest’s display throughout the final.
“Forrest was excellent, pretty special. Every time he got on the ball he kept getting in behind Aberdeen’s defence,” he said, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
“It was a great finish for his goal and he ran in behind them for the penalty. He gave Dembele something because he was quite quiet!”
The brilliant performance is all the more impressive given that he could not get into the team during the latter stages of Ronny Deila’s tenure and had looked destined to leave the club following his decision to reject a new contract (via Daily Record).
But Rodgers has shown a huge amount of faith in the wide-man, and he has repaid that faith by inspiring the Hoops to the 100th major trophy in their history.
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