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Celtic vs Aberdeen result, Ange Postecoglou reaction, Jota, Scottish Premiership, updates, latest

Celtic vs Aberdeen result, Ange Postecoglou reaction, Jota, Scottish Premiership, updates, latest

Ange Postecoglou called for a more “decisive” Celtic after the Hoops opened their Scottish Premiership title defense with a 2-0 home win against Aberdeen.

In front of 60,000 fans at Parkhead, Celtic made the perfect start when defender Stephen Welsh scored in just the third minute.

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However it took until the 75th minute for the Hoops to seal their win via a brilliant goal from Portuguese attacker Jota.

Former Socceroos coach Postecoglou – embarking on his second season in charge of the Glasgow giants and now having a coaching staff that includes Australian great Harry Kewell – wasn’t entirely satisfied with his side’s performance despite the victory.

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Ange Postecoglou applauds the fans after Celtic's win. Picture: Steve Welsh/Getty Images
Ange Postecoglou applauds the fans after Celtic’s win. Picture: Steve Welsh/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

Postecoglou was especially frustrated with Jota’s lack of cutting edge in the first half.

“There is no doubt the boy has talent and he is determined to be the best footballer he can be,” Postecoglou told Clyde Radio.

“But, he was one of the main culprits in the last 15 minutes of the first half.

“He was wasteful with the ball and he gave away possession when he didn’t have to. These are the kind of things we have to avoid.

“We have to keep these guys on track and not let them get away from the things we want them to do.

“The good thing is he addressed it at halftime and in the second half, not just his goal but his general play was really good.”

It wasn’t just Jota that was wasteful in front of goal, but the entire team too.

“It was a solid performance but we were just wasteful in front of goal,” Postecoglou said.

“I was disappointed because I thought we could have been a lot more clinical.

“Sometimes you can fall into the trap of knowing we will create loads of opportunities and because of that you are not as focused as you should be.

“My view is we are creating opportunities so let’s take as many as we can. “

Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy, who joined Celtic less than two weeks ago, was among the substitutes and entered the contest in the final 10 minutes as a replacement for Matt O’Riley.

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Socceroos set for busy 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule

Socceroos set for busy 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule

The Socceroos’ path to the 2026 World Cup will be a 16-match journey – provided the Australians are among the Asian Football Confederation’s top six qualifiers.

To be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 edition of the tournament will expand to include 48 nations.

With 16 more countries to qualify than the 32 at this year’s World Cup, the AFC will have at least eight representatives and a maximum of nine.

Provided, as expected, the Socceroos are at the time among the AFC’s top 25 nations, they will join the race to reach the 2026 World Cup in the second round of the preliminary qualifiers, which is set to start late next year and will involve 36 teams who will be divided into nine groups of four.

Each nation will play six games in a round-robin, home and away format, with the top two from each group – 18 in total – to advance to the stage known as the AFC Asian Qualifiers.

The 18 teams – who will be divided into three groups of six – will play 10 matches in a round-robin, home and away format, with the top two from each group to qualify directly for the World Cup.

The teams finishing third and fourth in each of the three groups will be drawn into two further groups of three and play two matches in a single round-robin format.

Both of the group winners will qualify for the World Cup.

The two second-placed teams will meet in a playoff, with the winner to represent the AFC in an Intercontinental playoff, where a World Cup berth will be up for grabs.

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AFL: Melbourne captain Max Gawn doesn’t think Luke Jackson will leave the Demons for Fremantle

AFL: Melbourne captain Max Gawn doesn't think Luke Jackson will leave the Demons for Fremantle

Melbourne captain Max Gawn is confident his premiership teammate Luke Jackson will knock back a huge offer to join Fremantle, declaring the young ruckman was the “happiest person out there” after the Demons took down the Dockers last Friday night.

Jackson, who is from Perth, has put off contract talks until the end of the season amid rampant speculation he’s headed back to Western Australia, and the Dockers, on a monster deal.

Local fans taunted the Melbourne players last Friday night by hanging a Fremantle jersey with “Jackson” written on it over the race. The jersey was snatched and then thrown away by Jackson’s teammate Jake Melksham.

On Monday, Gawn conceded his opinion was going against the grain of what most were saying about Jackson, but he thought the 20-year-old would remain at the Demons.

“Luke’s a talent and he’s got every right, as every player does, to look at any offer that’s coming his way,” Gawn told reporters on Monday.

“I’m pretty confident he’s going to be a Melbourne player still and I know that’s very far from what the consensus is out in the media.

“He was the happiest person I’ve ever seen (last Friday night) beating Fremantle, who is the team that he’s supposed to be going to.

“He seemed the happiest person out there.”

Jackson was the center of attention from the moment he touched down in Perth last week, but Gawn joked the youngster was the “best character” to handle it.

“I actually think he doesn’t know he’s out of contract,” Gawn said.

“That little bit helps him. He does n’t read anything, he does n’t look at anything, he just continues on his merry way and I think his performances by him are showing that.

“If you go out there and watch him, he doesn’t look like he’s over-thinking. He’s just out there playing football.”

Last week, Melbourne re-signed midfield star Angus Brayshaw to a six-year deal having also secured best and fairest Clayton Oliver on an on long-term contract.

Jackson, however, remains the No.1 priority and Gawn said he was hopeful of continuing to build on the partnership they had formed, on and off the field, since the youngster arrived at the Demons in the 2019 draft.

“I love playing with him, I love being his leader, I love being his friend, I love coaching him and I love seeing little bits that I’ve told him during the week come out on game day,” Gawn said.

“I’m really excited, especially for the next seven weeks, to play with Luke and then hopefully for the next few years.”

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Canberra Raiders hero Jamal Fogarty not bitter over Titans axing

Canberra Raiders hero Jamal Fogarty not bitter over Titans axing

After putting his former club to the sword, Canberra half Jamal Fogarty said he had “no regrets” about leaving the last-placed Titans and has pleaded with the Gold Coast to have patience with rookie No.7 Toby Sexton.

Fogarty, who played 41 games for the Gold Coast, was superb for the Raiders in the 36-24 win over the Titans. He set up a crucial try when the game was in the balance and combined superbly with halves partner Jack Wighton to keep Canberra’s finals hopes alive.

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Sexton and the Titans spine was unable to ice key moments, causing coach Justin Holbrook to say that “Kieran (Foran) can’t get here quick enough”, in reference to the Manly star’s impending arrival in 2023.

The Titans parted ways with Fogarty at the end of last year and allowed him to sign with the Raiders after backing 21-year-old Sexton to be their main man in the seven jersey.

That decision has been a flop, but Fogarty said he had no bitterness towards the Gold Coast.

“There are no regrets,” the 28-year-old said.

“I’ll be totally honest. When I signed at the (Titans) they told me day one Toby was going to be their halfback moving forward. It was just going to be a matter of when.

“Once they said Tobes was ready to take over it was ‘sweet, where is the best option for me to keep playing?’

Jamal Fogarty says the Titans should show some faith in Toby Sexton. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“I am not bitter towards the club or any of the players. I am just grateful that Sticky (Ricky Stuart) and the Canberra boys have given me the opportunity to keep playing NRL because it took me so long to get here. I had to look after myself first.

“Moving forward I hope all the Gold Coast supporters give Tobes a bit of time and give him a bit of love and credit. He’s had two years where it has been Covid.

“He has come straight out of school, hasn’t played any footy, and obviously it was going to be tough for him to play a full season of halfback. He is going to be a 10 or 12-year player for the club and play 200 games for them.”

The Raiders are in ninth position on the ladder on 22 points and just outside the eight on for and against.

Fogarty, who has won five of eight games for the Raiders after overcoming injury, is building his combination with Wighton.

“People on the outside don’t realize we’ve played just five games together,” Fogarty said.

“Two of those weeks he was in Origin camp. He came back for captain’s run after I’d trained all week with Matt Frawley… so we were learning on the run in captain’s run. Another time he had Covid and it was very similar.

“The last weeks we’ve been able to have a full week of preparation and we are finding a groove. I think we are heading in the right direction at the right time of the season whether they are good wins or ugly wins.”

The selfless Fogarty said the win over the Titans was not about him, but it still felt weird.

“It is obviously different in the away sheds, to start off with. It is the first time I have come to the stadium on a bus as well,” he said.

“I spoke to the boys every week that it is just about us. When we focus on ourselves we play our best style of footy.”

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Tennis: Alex de Minaur collected his sixth ATP title by winning the Atlanta Open

Tennis: Alex de Minaur collected his sixth ATP title by winning the Atlanta Open

Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur is on the verge of re-entering the top 20, only four weeks out from the US Open after winning the Atlanta Open for the second time.

The 23-year-old powered to his sixth career ATP title – all at 250 level – and first for 2022, with a 6-3 6-3 defeat of American Jenson Brooksby in 91 minutes.

de Minaur’s victory preceded Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios claiming the Atlanta doubles final 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 over countrymen Jason Kubler and John Peers.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis have now won 14 of 16 matches together this season, including reaching the Miami Masters semi-finals as well as their maiden grand slam title.

de Minaur’s victory was his second title in Atlanta having also won the singles title in 2019, beating another American, Taylor Fritz, before going on to make the last 16 at that year’s US Open, which begins at the end of August.

The tournament wasn’t held the following season because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while Minaur skipped last year’s edition while recovering from the virus.

Fellow Australian and close friend Matt Reid stepped in to coach him for the week, with his usual mentor, Adolfo Gutierrez, to link up with him at this week’s ATP 500 event at Washington.

Australian Davis Cup assistant coach Jaymon Crabb also supported him in Atlanta.

“My coach (Gutierrez) is currently traveling to Washington. He’s on the plane and hasn’t been able to watch the final, so hopefully when he lands he’ll get a nice, little notification on his phone,” de Minaur said.

“I’ve got Matt Reid over there, who’s helped me out this week. He’s made time out of his very busy schedule to come out here and help me out and we’re undefeated as a team, so thank you very much.

“Jaymon Crabb’s here on Davis Cup business but he’s (also) put in a lot of hours in the hot, hot Atlanta summer.”

Third-seeded de Minaur proved far too strong for Brooksby in their first meeting, breaking the world No.43 four times while dropping serve himself just once.

The match turned in the Australian star’s favor in the sixth game of the opening set when he snatched a 4-2 lead, after staving off a pair of break points three games earlier.

That was enough for de Minaur, who came from a set down in the previous two rounds, to take a one-set lead before the rivals traded breaks to start the second set.

Neither player faced another break point until the seventh game, when de Minaur wore down Brooksby with some extended rallies before the American dumped consecutive tired forehands into the net to concede serve.

The result will see the Australian rise from his current ranking of 30 to 21 – and within sight of his career-high ranking of 15.

de Minaur reached the fourth round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year but will try to at least match his career-best quarter-final run at the 2020 US Open when he competes in New York.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis smashed 15 aces past Kubler and Peers and converted the only break of the match in the final game to seal a tight straight-sets victory.

It was an unlikely turn of events for Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios, who withdrew before his first-round singles clash in Atlanta with a left knee soreness but continued in the doubles.

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