David Martindale admitted he was looking for a taxi out of Parkhead at half-time after watching Celtic head out of sight.
The Livingston boss saw his side ship three goals in the opening 45 minutes in Glasgow – but they shored up in the second period. Martindale said: “It was lucky I couldn’t get a reception. I was trying to get an Uber. I think it’s containment at that point. Are we going to come here and score three goals? Are we going to come here and score four goals? It’s all about going and getting the next goal.
“When you go in at half-time, it’s about getting their heads lifted and don’t concede. The next 45 minutes is making sure we don’t concede but can you get the next goal? We never got that goal to get the impetus to get us up the park. But I’m not kidding anyone on. Celtic are three up, they are coasting, theta re dominating the ball. They probably took their foot off the gas slightly. The game becomes a bit easier for them.”
Martindale hailed his side for hanging on but admitted it was hard going against a side who he felt gave Real Madrid a chasing for an hour in the Champions League.
He said: “Celtic were worthy winners, to be honest. I thought they played some nice football at times. It was a really difficult game for us to lay a glove on them. But I did think we gifted them two goals. The second and third goals we’ve got to do a lot better defensively.
“They’ve got international players. I’ve seen them do that to Real Madrid – they were probably the better team in that game for 60 minutes. You’ve got to take your hat off to Ange. What he’s done at Celtic, he’s done it incredibly well. It’s all right having money. It’s how you spend it and then it’s how you coach the players you bring in."
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