FORMER Celtic supervisor Brendan Rodgers’ lengthy unbeaten run in Saudi Arabia has been ended amid exceptional scenes.
And two stars he really SIGNED as Hoops boss had a giant say in touchdown the huge blow.
Rodgers quit Celtic in dramatic vogue on the finish of October.
The Northern Irishman walked away only a day after a 3-1 defeat to Hearts that left the Celts eight factors adrift within the Scottish Premiership title race.
His departure got here amid ongoing unrest between himself, the board and the followers with Hoops supremo Dermot Desmond unleashing an astonishing statement aimed at Rodgers within the rapid aftermath of his exit.
Rodgers, 53, didn’t have to attend lengthy to make a return to the sport.
On December 16, lower than two months after leaving Celtic, he was appointed supervisor of Saudi Pro League membership Al-Qadsiah.
And he’s been having fun with a exceptional run of type.
Rodgers had led the membership to a 17-game unbeaten run with their excellent league type seeing Al-Qadsiah mount an unlikely title problem.
However, the unbelievable run got here to an finish final evening in relatively loopy vogue.
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Al-Qadsiah headed to tackle Al-Ettifaq – the membership previously managed by Steven Gerrard.
And it was a sport that noticed Rodgers celebrating wildly within the ninety fifth minute – solely for VAR to intervene in surprising vogue.
It was additionally a match that noticed TWO former Celtic stars who labored beneath Rodgers come again to hang-out their outdated boss.
Joel Quinones had given Rodgers’ aspect the lead nevertheless it was Jack Hendry who levelled issues up at 1-1 earlier than the break.
The Scotland defender was signed for Celtic by Rodgers from Dundee in 2018.
Hendry’s purpose got here just some minutes after Al-Qadsiah’s Mohammed Abu Al Shamat had been despatched off.
And then, none apart from Moussa Dembele gave Al-Ettifaq the lead early within the second half.
Dembele was snapped up in Rodgers’ first season in command of Celtic and went on to grow to be a roaring success with the Hoops.
The striker left Celtic for Lyon in 2018, however solely after publicly criticising the membership and Rodgers for initially blocking the transfer regardless of reported assurances that he could be allowed to go away ought to a bumper provide be incoming.
A social media put up understood to have been geared toward Rodgers mentioned: “A man without his word is nothing. A real man keeps his word.”
When Rodgers left Celtic for the primary time in February 2019 to take the Leicester job, Dembele cryptically posted “I told you” on social media.
More than seven years on from that drama, the striker, now aged 29, struck to offer his aspect a 2-1 lead.
A penalty from Georginio Wijnaldum made it 3-1 on 74 minutes and seemed to have all however secured victory for Al-Ettifaq.
But Rodgers’ aspect weren’t achieved there.
Quinones struck once more within the 87th minute to arrange a frenetic end that noticed Al-Qadsiah rating once more – solely for VAR to have the ultimate say.
Former Spain star Nacho lashed the ball dwelling within the ninety fifth minute, sparking wild celebrations on the bench.
Rodgers could possibly be seen punching the air with a giant grin on his face.
However, that smile was wiped off of his face simply moments later.
Barely a second or two earlier than Nacho swept the ball dwelling, teammate Gaston Ramirez had slid in to attempt to win possession.
While he appeared to get a contact on the ball, he additionally caught Ondrej Duda who went down clutching his leg.
The referee was unmoved and awarded the purpose.
However, VAR took a really dim view of the problem.
And after overview, the referee CANCELLED the purpose and as an alternative dramatically brandished a purple card to Ramirez.
And in relatively exceptional vogue, the purpose was chalked off and Al-Qadsiah had been consigned to their first defeat within the league beneath Rodgers.
It’s a consequence that leaves his group in fourth place and 10 factors behind leaders Al-Nassr.
After the sport, Rodgers couldn’t conceal his anger on the refereeing selections.
He felt NEITHER purple card was warranted and was livid on the determination to disallow the final gasp equaliser.
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