Ian Wright reacts to Celtic’s Champions League win over Anderlecht, praises Brendan Rodgers

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Celtic hammered Anderlecht 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Pundit Ian Wright has told BBC Sport that he was very impressed with Celtic’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Anderlecht on Wednesday night.

The Bhoys travelled to Brussels in search of a vital Champions League win, and were in high spirits having beaten Rangers 2-0 in the first Old Firm derby of the season on Saturday.

However, having lost their first Champions League group stage game 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, manager Brendan Rodgers needed a win to boost his side’s European hopes.

That’s exactly what he got, and a comfortable win was started when Olivier Ntcham’s pass split open the Anderlecht defence, and Kieran Tierney crossed for Leigh Griffiths to slam home.

Slack defending from Olivier Deschacht allowed Patrick Roberts to try a shot on goal in the second half, and defender Kara Mbodj attempted to put himself in the way of the ball, only to send it into this own net for 2-0.

Anderlecht’s torrid night continued with more poor defending, this time allowing Scott Sinclair to drive into the box and place a finish into the roof of the net for a 3-0 victory.

Whilst getting through the group remains a tough task given that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also in the group, Celtic have put themselves in the box seat for third place, and a spot in the Europa League.

Now, pundit Ian Wright has told BBC Sport that whilst many will belittle Celtic, their result in Belgium was ‘very impressive’, and manager Brendan Rodgers deserves major praise for the way he gets his side to raise their game in Europe after coasting through Scottish football.

“When Celtic are in the Champions League, everybody expects them to just get beat by whoever they’re up against,” said Wright. “They’re always belittling towards the Scottish league and the fact that Celtic should be doing what they’re doing in it. People will say ‘Yeah it was Anderlecht’, but the way they have to raise their game, I think it’s a credit to them and Brendan Rodgers, for what they’ve done – I thought it was a very impressive result. I know they’ll have harder games to come, but I think Celtic have to get credit for what they’re doing at any stage of the Champions League,” he added.