Celtic's Deila expects second leg improvement
- adamhigginsuk
- Jul 16, 2014
- 2 min read
Content: A satisfied Deila will hope Celtic can build on their first-leg showing next week (Picture from STV)
CELTIC manager Ronny Deila was happy with his side's performance in the 1-0 victory over KR Reykjavik in the Champions League qualifier.
A deflected late strike from Callum McGregor gave the Hoops a first-leg advantage against the Icelandic champions.
And the Norwegian was pleased with his first game in charge but says he expects an improvement in next Tuesday's second leg at Murrayfield, which will stage the return while Celtic Park is unavailable.
"My philosophy is always to learn. We'll do that and perform even better at Murrayfield," he told BBC Sport Scotland after the game.
"I'm happy with the performance, especially the second half. It felt a little sleepy in the first half, nothing much happened.
"In the second half, it was much better when we started to play through them with penetrating passes. We got more runs between them and opened them up.
"We've played four [friendly] matches and scored every chance we had. Tonight we didn't, but we created a lot. If it had been 0-0, I would have been happy as well because of the performance.
"We deserved it, we deserved more. I am getting energy out of this, I like what I saw in the second half."
The Scottish champions were dominant in the second qualifying round tie with Kris Commons, Leigh Griffiths and Teemu Pukki all hitting the woodwork before McGregor struck on 84 minutes.
And Deila was pleased with the contribution of the 21-year-old midfielder on his first competitive start for the club.
"I think he did well in his debut, in an important match like this," he added.
"He has big talent but I want him to be more direct, go forward more and link up more with the full-back. But that will come and I am very happy for him that he scored a goal."
Last updated: 16 July 2014 08:21am
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