Celtic: Neil Lennon delighted with three-goal performance
Last updated on .From the section Football
Manager Neil Lennon praised his Celtic charges for winning a potentially "sticky" Champions League qualifying tie against Cliftonville in Belfast.
Mikael Lustig and Georgios Samaras scored first-half goals before James Forrest added a third late on.
"All round I'm delighted with the performance and the attitude of the team," Lennon told BBC Scotland.
"We played well, scored three goals, created a lot of chances and hopefully have a clean bill of health."
Celtic came into the Champions League second round qualifying first leg having lost all four of their pre-season friendlies to date against Ukrainian, Romanian and German opposition.
However, the visitors to the Solitude settled early and Lustig netted a fine header from Kris Commons's corner.
Their lead was doubled on the half-hour mark when Samaras slammed a left-footed shot past Cliftonville goalkeeper Conor Devlin from just inside the box.
And in a game where Lennon's men hit the woodwork three times, Forrest hit an 84th-minute third goal to cap a convincing victory.
"A lot of talk's been about our pre-season results but we just wanted to try to get it right for these games," Lennon said.
"That buys us a bit of time now. Some are still a bit rusty but that's understandable.
"We've got a friendly on Saturday which the bulk of this team won't be involved in and another game against Cliftonville next week.
"So, we'll feel the benefit of both those games coming up to the next round, hopefully.
"It was a sticky game for us and we've dealt with it very well."
Northern Irishman Lennon expressed his pride at being able to lead out his Celtic team in his home country.
He also confirmed there was no update about the potential departure of striker Gary Hooper, who has been interesting QPR and Norwich City.
Lennon said: "No, nothing to add to that. Talks are still ongoing."
Celtic captain Scott Brown was equally happy with the straightforward nature of the win.
"We came out, showed what we're made of and showed that we're back to winning ways," he said.
"We're not too worried about pre-season results. It all depends on this result - that's the main thing.
"We've lost Victor [Wanyama, who has joined Southampton] but I'm sure we'll bring another couple of players in."
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Calling all Timposters .... I'm running a book.
your take bitterness to new levels just because your club arent allowed, or even big enough to play in europe. and lets be honest, they couldnt afford the bus fair to irleand for this game.
All those ejjits you pass on the street...
they all have keyboards! Most of them are on here.
Sorry, but are you suggesting we should all get behind Cliftonville or Celtic? ;)
Hopefully all Scottish teams can make a bit of progress in the competition this year - even the Hibees.
Nice to see the usual suspects perpetuating the bigotry and hatred that has made the game in Scotland what it is today. Well done to all.
Good luck to ALL the Scots teams in the Europa qualifiers tonight
End of the day, we had to play Cliftonville, so we did. They have every right, as champions, to be in the qualifiers. It is the CHAMPIONS league, after all. We got a fair result, although it is clear we have much work to be done re the performance of some.
GL to Hibs & SJ tonight!
Where you come from or what team you support is irrelevant. The fact that you'd deny a team a chance to play in a CL qualifier because it embarrasses you is just wrong. They earned the right to be there - good luck to them I say.
@45 it is a good young team but your mob have made some astute signings this year
Solid performance last night.Done what was required.
Good luck to Hibs & Saints,although on paper they look like 2 very tough ties.
Well done Bhoys!