Gordon earns Deila's thanks

Pic: Jeff Holmes

Ronny Deila thanked Craig Gordon after another fine performance by the keeper in Celtic's 1-0 Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb at Parkhead.

Midfielder Kris Commons gave the home side the lead in the sixth minute with a well-worked goal but, as in the 2-2 draw in Salzburg in the Hoops' Group D opener, the 31-year-old Scotland international was the hero.

Gordon, signed on a free transfer in the summer before Deila took over from Neil Lennon, came to the rescue again with several fine saves, two in particular from Portuguese forward Wilson Eduardo making the difference.

The Hoops boss said: Craig was unbelievable.

I said to him in the dressing room that we have him to thank for conceding zero goals and winning the game.

Celtic have had good goalkeepers in the past and that is important. It is an important place to have good players.

He was a prospect to come in before I was the manager of the club but I knew he was a fantastic goalkeeper who was out for a long time (with injury).

The goalkeeping coach (Stevie Woods) said he was ready to come back again and he has been an unbelievable signing.

He can't do much better than he has shown. He can work on his kicking but he is a fantastic keeper and very calm.''

Zagreb coach Zoran Mamic thought his side deserved a least a point from the second group fixture.

He said: I'm very disappointed. When you see the 90 minutes, we were the better team.

But football is about goals and we didn't score, so I have to say congratulations to Celtic.

We played really well in the second half and had many chances.

In the last game against Astra, we didn't have as many shots on goal but won 5-1. I was sure we were going to score in the second half but it just didn't happen.

I'm sure it will be better for us when we play Celtic in Zagreb. I think that could be a decisive game in the group and we showed tonight we have the quality to beat Celtic.''

However, Deila was reluctant to agree with his Dinamo counterpart.

The Norwegian said: When you see the second half they were better than us and had their chances.

In the first half we had the chances and it was even with the ball.

We started the game well and got a fantastic goal, so we were very good in the first half but in the second half we got very tired and couldn't keep the ball.

But in the end it was a fantastic team spirit, we worked really hard, defended fantastic and they didn't get a lot of chances, so I am pleased with that.''

With back-to-back games against bottom side Astra coming up, Deila believes Celtic are in a good position to get the 10 points he believes are required for qualification.

He said: We have a good chance now.

It is important to win at home and the fans were fantastic, backing the team for 93 minutes and that is why Celtic win so many games at home.

We look forward to playing Astra.''