IF CARLSBERG DID SHOCKS
BY KEITH JACKSON NEIL LENNON watched Celtic’s Euro bid come to a crashing end last night – then refused to pin the blame on his players for a calamitous late collapse.
In an eerie echo of the KO by Cluj in the Champions
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The damage was done moments after Odsonne Edouard appeared to save the day with a late penalty to level the tie with 10 minutes to go.
But the curtain came crashing down on their hopes of a place in the last 16 of the Europa League as the Danes ran off with an away win to leave Parkhead shocked.
Gutted Lenny insisted afterwards he was not willing to throw his players “under a bus” for their mistakes.
The gaffer said: “I’m hugely disappointed because we basically shot ourselves in the foot.
“We had total control in the first half, I don’t remember Fraser Forster having much to do. We had all the flow, we hit the post and had crosses going across the goal.
“At half-time we were really pleased with the way the game had gone. But we made a mistake at the start of the second half and gave them oxygen and encouragement.
“We got back into the game, deservedly so, for all our good play. Then we just needed to manage the game and we didn’t do it. We shot ourselves in the foot for the second time and that was the big moment of the tie.
“We had a great opportunity and we let it go. It’s bitterly disappointing to lose in the manner we did because we were the better team for huge parts of the game.
“These players have been absolutely brilliant for me and I’m not going to criticise them for mistakes they made tonight. They deserved better but that’s football – it’s cruel sometimes.” Celtic fell behind five minutes into the second half when sub Michael Santos pounced on a sloppy passback from Jozo Simunovic to fire his side in front. Edouard then looked to have thrown Lennon’s men a lifeline when he levelled things up from the spot.
But the last collapse saw goals for Pep Biel and Dame N’Doye as counterattacking Copenhagen stormed through to the last 16.
Lennon said: “They are intelligent boys, they know they have let themselves down a little bit. We’ve had a good Europa League run and I’m really disappointed it has ended.
“We did all the forcing, Copenhagen didn’t have to work hard for their goals. We gave them away cheaply.
“I’m not going to throw anyone under a bus, we win as a team and lose as a team.
“I’ve not spoken to Jozo. I have a duty of care to him, he has come back from a long-term injury, Yes, he made a mistake but we recovered and he didn’t make a mistake for the second goal.
“If I need to pick him up, I will. That’s my job. He has held his hands up and we move on.
“The players will be hurting, so will the fans. I don’t really think we need to analyse what went wrong. Everyone knows. It was basic individual mistakes – sometimes you can’t legislate for that.”
Copenhagen manager Stale Solbakken wants to face Rangers in the last 16.
He said: “Some of our injured players went to Rangers’ training ground for treatment today and met Steven Gerrard. I think he was hoping to meet us in the next round!
“It would be just as tough for us [as facing Celtic], if not tougher.”