Celtic 2, AC Milan 1.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan hailed his side's attitude and commitment following their dramatic late Champions League victory over AC Milan in Glasgow.

Scott McDonald pounced when Milan keeper Dida parried a Gary Caldwell drive from the edge of the box after a Kaka penalty had cancelled out Hoops captain Stephen McManus' opener.

''It's been a good night,'' said Strachan.

''Our footballers won the game for us, but not through football. Because they are playing the European champions, they cannot play exactly as they would like to.

''What they did when they gave the ball away and it didn't come off for them was they became good defenders.

''That gave us the platform to go on and win the game. I thought the players deserved a lot of credit.''

Strachan picked out McDonald for particular praise as the Australian finally got his reward for a tireless performance in front of the Parkhead crowd.

''He had to play against two fantastic central defenders,'' Strachan said.

''He held the ball up well and when he gave it away, he was chasing. It was an easy night for them to play because they were physically stronger than us. But we did our best and that proved to be enough."

McManus admitted the win was crucial to Celtic's hopes of qualifying for the knockout phases.

He said: ''It's always nice when you beat a top, top side. No matter who the opposition is when we come here it's important we get three points and it's especially important we picked three up in the group stages.

''We know how good a side they are and you have to give them tremendous respect but I think at the same time you have to get at them and fortunately we had a good finish towards the end of it.

Milan claimed the ball hit McManus' hand before his effort crossed the line but the Hoops skipper insists referee Markus Merk made the correct decision.