Celtic dismiss Rangers penalty furore as cup hero points to key stat and insists: ‘we deserved to win’
Celtic are refusing to let the controversy surrounding Rangers’ penalty complaints overshadow their Premier Sports Cup final victory on Sunday. While much of the attention in Glasgow has been on VAR’s failure to intervene when referee John Beaton awarded a free kick for a Liam Scales shirt pull on Vaclav Cerny that video replays showed occurred on the 18-yard line, the green half of the city is busy celebrating another victory that moves them one point ahead of Rangers in the all-time honours list, with the score now 119-118 in Celtic’s favour.
A bunch of Celtic players were photographed partying at the PDC World Darts Championships at Alexandra Palace on Monday, holding a handwritten 119 sign aloft in a playful jab at their Ibrox rivals. Paulo Bernardo was not one of them – “I just preferred to stay home and rest!” – but he said he and his teammates had paid no attention to the VAR fallout after edging a six-goal Hampden thriller in a penalty shootout. The Portuguese midfielder, who started the final before being replaced by Arne Engels in the second half, stated: “We don’t focus on that decision. We’re just moving forward now. We won the trophy after a great game, and it is all we focus about.”It was a tough game on Sunday. Both teams played well, and the game was enjoyable for fans to watch. But we had over 70% of the ball, and I believe we deserved to win the cup. In the final moments, we had the quality to win the game, and the players performed admirably in the shootout. We performed admirably at high-pressure situations. Our goal was to win the trophy, and we accomplished that.”
While James Forrest joined Bobby Lennox as Celtic’s joint most decorated player in history with 25 medals, and Callum McGregor equalled Billy McNeilv just two behind, Bernardo received his third winners’ medal in his second season at the club – and his first as a permanent signing after spending last season on loan from Benfica. “It was a great day and personally, I am very happy to win another trophy with this great club,” he stated with pride. “It was a pretty terrific time for us, and the festivities were fantastic afterwards. We returned to the stadium to see the fans and had a good time with the team.”
Bernardo, who joined almost 200 local schoolchildren at a Celtic Foundation Christmas event at Celtic Park on Tuesday, also mentioned how much he enjoys the pressure and responsibilities of playing for the club. “We’re winning, so it’s normal to be joyful. We’re playing good and winning trophies, and that’s all that matters to Celtic. Personally, I am content and joyful. I am at a club that demands success, but I am content with that. I don’t see it as pressure because I grew up as a Benfica player, and you have to win every game there too. I joined them when I was six years old, and this has been my entire career. I am used to the pressure and expectations and I know that I have to be prepared to win every game.”
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