Arne Engels insists that even if Rangers had been awarded a VAR penalty in the Premier Sports Cup Final, Celtic would still have come back to win and lift the trophy.
The Belgian midfielder has brushed aside the post-match controversy following Celtic’s dramatic Hampden triumph last Sunday.
Despite the fallout, which included SFA referees chief Willie Collum admitting Rangers should have been awarded a penalty for a pull on Vaclav Cerny in extra time, Engels is adamant that the Hoops’ victory was fully deserved.
The match ended 3-3, with Brendan Rodgers’ side clinching the win in a tense penalty shootout. Engels, a key figure in the game, believes that even if Rangers had scored the contested penalty, Celtic would have found a way to emerge victorious.
“I’m not aware of everything that’s been said,” Engels stated. “But last Sunday we showed that we’re a really good team who can perform in the big games.
“We deserved to win it, and that’s why we were on the podium. That’s all that matters. If Rangers had got a penalty and scored, we could still have come back and won the game, 100 percent.
“We’ve already shown a few times that we can come back. We won the cup, which is the most important thing. I don’t want to talk about anything else. We’ve shown that we have such a strong squad who performs on the big occasions.”
While much of the conversation post-final has been fixated on the Cerny penalty incident, Engels believes the focus should be on Celtic’s achievements, particularly those of club legend James Forrest.
Forrest equalled Bobby Lennox’s record of 25 trophies at Hampden, a milestone Engels feels deserves far more attention.
The 21-year-old, who coolly converted one of Celtic’s penalties in the shootout, is clear that neither he nor his teammates are concerned about external criticism or debates.
“Nobody at this club really cares about what other people say about us. We only look at ourselves,” Engels said.
“We know what goals we have for the rest of the season and that’s what we’re working towards. A really strong part of our squad is that we don’t look at other things, only ourselves.
“Is it a shame that people are talking about other things? James equalled a record by winning the trophy, he has so many medals now and is a quality player. So if there needs to be something said after Sunday, it should be about him.
“Celtic is the biggest club in Scotland so it’s all about winning trophies. Hopefully, we can achieve that together. The winning mentality here is different to what I’ve experienced before. It’s a case of winning one trophy and it’s on to the next one. That’s our mindset here.”
Engels’ words underline the resilience and focus of a Celtic side determined to add more silverware to their already glittering collection.
