Rodgers delighted with Nygren's courage in Europa League win

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers believes Benjamin Nygren "showed courage" in his performance against Sturm Graz.

The Scottish Premiership side went 1-0 down in the first half after Tomi Horvat's brilliant strike, but they completed a quick turnaround, with just 144 seconds between Liam Scales' equaliser and Nygren's winner.

The Bhoys secured their first win against Austrian opposition in major European competition since beating FC Wacker Innsbruck in the European Cup back in October 1977, ending their nine-game winless run in Europe against such teams (D3 L6).

Celtic's expected goals (xG) of 4.24 is the highest of any side in a Europa League game this season and the Scottish side's highest total in a major European competition match on record (since 2013-14), and Nygren was responsible for 2.43 of that total.

The Swede missed two close-range headers before eventually scoring in the 64th minute, and he also saw another chance denied by Matteo Bignetti soon after.

Nygren now has seven goal involvements across eight appearances in major European competition (six goals, one assist), and Rodgers praised the forward's resilience following his mixed night in front of goal. 

"I said before the game to the players, we've really got to show leadership now. In my experience, when those types of players are under pressure, they progress," said Rodgers.

"And you could see from the weekend coming into this game – the progress in the team was so good, individually and collectively. And when you have a setback, like the weekend, those leaders show the motivation to go again, and we saw that tonight.

"So happy for the likes of Benji [Nygren]. He's playing out of position, showed courage to keep going, he eventually gets his goal.

"Arne Engels I thought was outstanding in the game. Coming back in, gave us that energy and that fight. And his set-piece quality really is world class."