Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers feels that his side lacked real aggression and quality in their 3-0 drubbing by Rangers at Ibrox on Thursday.
A first-half opener from Ianis Hagi and second-half strikes by Robin Propper and substitute Danilo compounded the misery for the champions.
Celtic was dominated throughout and will have little to complain about in the derby defeat.
It was also only Rodgers' second Old Firm loss in 21 matches over his two spells as Celtic manager.
"I mentioned to the players that I didn’t think we could be any worse in the second half," Rodgers said when asked about the performance on Celtic TV.
"(We were) a little bit better, but not much better. And I’ve got experience of coming from behind when we’ve been here, so I know we can do it, but we never really had that reaction today; I didn’t feel that.
"I didn’t think we were so aggressive and had that quality in our game. And that precision in our passing, in order to hurt them. So, probably over the course of the couple of spells, that performance certainly wasn’t up there."
Brendan Rodgers spoke to @CelticTV after the match 🎙#RANCEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/w0FB0wZFte
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 2, 2025
Despite the defeat, Celtic are 11 points clear of their bitter rivals and will most likely win the league barring a major collapse, the likes of which Scotland has never seen.
Rodgers has decided to look at the bigger picture, which for him is being at the top of the league with a wide gap.
"I can look at it from two perspectives. I can analyse the game today and see that we weren’t very good, and the better team won," he added.
"So, I can accept that. The bigger picture: we reached the halfway point in the season, 11 points clear. Players have been absolutely first class up until this point in so many ways.
"And this setback today, from losing the game, you can learn from and be better for going forward.
"But, in the game, the best team won, deserved to win. For us, it’s the bigger picture and a great place in the league. And this is just a little reminder of the things it takes to win a game."
Celtic plays St. Mirren at 3 pm on Sunday.
