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Neil Lennon admits Celtic 'were second best in every department' after 4-0 Europa League defeat to FC Utrecht
European exit equally as bad as Scottish Cup humiliation last season
27 Aug 2010 01:00:00
By Tony Alvarez
Celtic manager Neil Lennon made no excuses for his side after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to FC Utrecht in their Europa League qualifying second leg ended their European involvement.
Having already been knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers, the Scottish side had taken a 2-0 advantage into the return leg in Holland, but were soundly beaten by Ricky Van Wolfswinkel's hat-trick and a Barry Maguire strike.
Asked if the defeat was as bad as the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County last season, Lennon told reporters: "It feels as bad as Ross County, yeah.
"We had a decent advantage and we only needed to score one goal. But it's the overall performance, we were second best in just about every area really."
Celtic trailed 2-0 at half time following two penalties that were both converted by Van Wolfswinkel.
Lennon said: “The first penalty was soft and for the second we shot ourselves in the foot.
“We've gone one down and just need to weather it and we get one goal and win the game. But we never gave ourselves a chance.”
When asked whether he thought the awarding of the penalties were harsh Lennon said: "I'm not going to go on about the referee because that would take away from a poor display. I would just be making an excuse, but two penalties is really poor from us."
Celtic will look to bounce back from their European disappointment when they visit Motherwell on Sunday in the Scottish Premier League.
Having already been knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers, the Scottish side had taken a 2-0 advantage into the return leg in Holland, but were soundly beaten by Ricky Van Wolfswinkel's hat-trick and a Barry Maguire strike.
| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £120.00 | Draw £12.00 | Celtic £45.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £150.00 | Draw £14.00 | Celtic £36.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £50.00 | Draw £37.50 | Celtic £16.70 |
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Asked if the defeat was as bad as the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County last season, Lennon told reporters: "It feels as bad as Ross County, yeah.
"We had a decent advantage and we only needed to score one goal. But it's the overall performance, we were second best in just about every area really."
Celtic trailed 2-0 at half time following two penalties that were both converted by Van Wolfswinkel.
Lennon said: “The first penalty was soft and for the second we shot ourselves in the foot.
“We've gone one down and just need to weather it and we get one goal and win the game. But we never gave ourselves a chance.”
When asked whether he thought the awarding of the penalties were harsh Lennon said: "I'm not going to go on about the referee because that would take away from a poor display. I would just be making an excuse, but two penalties is really poor from us."
Celtic will look to bounce back from their European disappointment when they visit Motherwell on Sunday in the Scottish Premier League.
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