Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths gets a rocket from Rodgers after yet more Ibrox controversy

LEIGH GRIFFITHS was warned to “keep the head” by Brendan Rodgers – then made Rangers fans blow their tops.

Celtic hit man Griff notched the Bhoys’ clincher at Ibrox just minutes after he was dressed down on the touchline for tangling with Josh Windass.

After hitting the net he celebrated with a scarf thrown on to the pitch by Celtic fans then, after throwing it to the ground, paraded in front of the Sandy Jardine stand with Scott Brown.

Predictably, the Gers support reacted furiously.

But a giddy Griffiths defended his actions, the Scotland international insisting Rangers’ players would do the same thing at Celtic Park.

“The Rangers fans like to pipe up a bit,” said Griffiths.

“Listen, I enjoyed my goal – you need to celebrate any goal you score.

“I was delighted with it.

“You need to enjoy those moments.

“It’s a derby at the end of the day and I’m sure if Rangers players had scored at Celtic Park they would have done the exact same thing.

“I enjoyed my goal – 2-0, clean sheet, three points and we’ll go down the road and look forward to Wednesday (a Champions League trip to Anderlecht) now.”

As much as Griffiths clearly enjoyed the moment, the former Hibs striker had to endure an unpleasant one first in the shape of a very public lecture from his manager.

It followed an unnecessary clash with Rangers star Windass with the score at 1-0.

For the Celtic striker, it was a chastening moment.

“The manager has been calm most of the time he’s been here – that’s one of the few times he’s lost it,” said Griffiths.

“It wasn’t great to see, so hopefully I can stay on his good side now.

“The message was just to stay calm.

“At the start of the second half tempers were getting a little bit flared, so he just told me to keep the head and concentrate on my football.”

Celtic’s victory stretched their unbeaten domestic run to 57 games – and their Premiership lead over Rangers to eight points.

And Griffiths reckons the scoreline at Ibrox could easily have been just as emphatic as those statistics.

“I think we controlled the game from start to finish,” he said.

“0-0 was not a bad scoreline to go in with at half-time and we knew going into the second half that our legs would be better than theirs.

“Our final ball in the first half wasn’t great.

“We could have looked up a bit more.

“If the ball had been squared across to the back post there were boys waiting for tap-ins.

“But the gaffer told us at half-time that the chances would come if we stayed calm and 2-0 in the end is a good victory for us.”

Meanwhile, Rangers defender James Tavernier said he felt the game demonstrated Rangers were closing the gap on their rivals.

“The first half showed that,” said the former Newcastle United full-back.

“Both teams created good chances and I thought we defended really well. Second half, it was two mistakes that really cost us the game.

“Once they had the goals, they could take their foot off the gas a bit.

“We tried to press them, and it’s a hard game that really wears you down.

“Obviously we don’t like losing and obviously against our rivals we definitely don’t like losing.

“It is difficult to swallow and we are all disappointed in that changing room.

“We were happy with the first half, we created some chances and came in pleased. The game was 0-0 so it was anyone’s game. It is the small details that can cost you the game.

“We are obviously a new team and first half we matched them throughout the pitch.

“They are a strong team but we worked really hard defensively and tried to create the chances that we could.

“Second half it was just a couple of mistakes that cost us the goals. We just have to take it on the chin and move on.”