Celtic: Brendan Rodgers praises 'exceptional' Leigh Griffiths goalscoring

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths scored his 67th goal in his 100th appearance, against Rangers at Ibrox

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers described Leigh Griffiths' scoring rate as "exceptional" after he notched his 67th league goal for the club in the Old Firm win over Rangers.

The meeting at Ibrox was Griffiths' 100th appearance, and he marked it with his side's second goal in a 2-0 win.

"To come into a club like this and score that number of goals in 100 games, it's brilliant," Rodgers said.

"He goes into every game he plays believing he can score."

Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic opened the scoring five minutes after the break at Ibrox, and Griffiths struck in the 65th minute, after clever set-up play by Patrick Roberts, to secure the victory.

"It's what he is, he's done it all his life," Rodgers said of Griffiths.

"I was talking to him in midweek about when he was at Dundee and he played 60-odd games there and got 30-odd goals, so it's what he is.

"The goal was perfect, the second one, in terms of our build-up play. It was a wonderful pass from young Pat to free Griff up to score. So it's an exceptional achievement."

Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha accused Scott Brown of using an elbow against Alfredo Morelos just before half-time, and confronted the Celtic captain as the players left the field.

Rodgers described Celtic captain Brown's display against Rangers as "outstanding"

Rodgers described Brown as a "pivotal" player and praised his contribution to Celtic's victory, along with the defensive work of Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic.

"[Brown] was outstanding," Rodgers said. "In the big games he makes big contributions.

"He had the boy Pena in and around him when he had the ball, but as the game wore in he got even more space and controlled it. He has the nerve for these big games.

"The difference it makes with the two centre-halves, they want to defend and go and head it. There was pressure on them going into the box and they want to defend.

"Boyata is fantastic for me, he had a challenge on him early on in the first half that tested his knee that he came through well. We have Moussa [Dembele] coming back, I have a very strong squad and they're all fighting for places and fighting to win."

Rodgers was impressed by the defensive play of centre-back Boyata

Rodgers, whose side now must prepare for Wednesday night's Champions League meeting with Anderlecht in Belgium, felt his players won the game because of their mental attitude.

"That's where the team has developed over the last 12, 15 months," he added.

"You might not be able to win it in the first 10 minutes, but if we play with the speed in our game we know that chances will come.

"Credit to the players that they now know that. They opened up the pitch, they passed the ball, played it simple and always looked a threat."