Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths has rued the chances that he missed on the day against Rangers and also admitted the disappointment of not taking away three points from a game which they dominated the majority of proceedings.
As quoted by the Glasgow Times, Griffiths said he can’t believe he didn’t get on the scoresheet after his effort in the first half was saved by Allan McGregor and the frustration of the players as they touch on the poor start to the season which now means we find ourselves 19 points behind in the league.
“I thought it was in, but he is a world-class goalkeeper. That’s what he brings you – he wins you points.
“I couldn’t have hit it any sweeter. He got his fingertips to it and it’s hit the post. Listen it was a chance for me and I never put it away. We train hard this week, reflect and be ready for Hibs next Monday.
“It was [an opportunity missed]. Because first half was the best we have played all season. And I don’t think have Rangers have had a shot on target all game.
“It’s disappointing but it’s the games at the start of the season that have killed us to be honest. The start of the season was not good enough. If we had been putting in performances like that we would not be in this position.”
Griffiths’s feeling of regret over the way Celtic played between mid-October and early December are only heightened by the way they are now performing, having belatedly hit their straps.
“It’s not just the first half performance today, we have been playing really well over the past few weeks.
“First half we were unlucky not to be a couple of goals ahead. At half-time, we regrouped and went out to play the same way.
“I think the red card changed the game. We hadn’t played well in the first few months of the season but then we started gathering momentum at the start of December.
“Today we were feeling confident and played well – until the sending off I thought we were the much better team.
“Again, the red card changes the game completely and Rangers are on the front foot from then.”
The Hoops really should have been in the lead after the opening 45 minutes and it is extremely frustrating to come away from a game having lost to the side who had 0 shots on goal in the game.
The damage for this season was not done yesterday though, it has been done over the last few months.
We went on a run of 2 wins in 12 games at one point, have dropped points to the likes of Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock and Hibs. It certainly hasn’t been good enough from that perspective.
