Sport: Mcginn glory goal takes Hibs through as Rangers see off Croats
Hibs boss Neil Lennon was immensely proud of his players after their Europa League victory over Asteras Tripolis and hailed goalkeeper Adam Bogdan as “world-class”.
A fraught 1-1 second leg draw in Greece was enough to see the Leith side set up a third qualifying round clash with Norwegian side Molde after a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Hibs were in command after John Mcginn notched a 43rd-minute goal before the home side had Michael Manias sent off in the 56th minute.
A rousing second half performance from Asteras saw kos mast s ilia ni dis level on the evening and Savvas Pante lid is’ side were denied victory by inspired goalkeeping from on-loan Liverpool stopper Bogdan.
Lennon said: “I am very proud of the players, it’s a tremendous success to get through. It was everything I imagined it to be as I knew it would be a difficult night.
“We made it more difficult for ourselves, but we are good value for the result over both the ties.
“We are learning as we go and the journey now goes on. On the balance of play, I believe we deserved it.
“It came down to game management and you need to give credit to our players, the game changed when we scored our goal and
then when Asteras went down to ten men
“When they scored it was poor defending from our point of view. We didn’t handle the game management as well as I would have liked. We should have been more comfortable with a man extra.”
Bogdan was at fault for the opening goal in the enthralling 3-2 first leg win but Lennon was more than happy with the Hungarian’s performance.
He added: “Adam was world-class. The save from the header was Gordon Banks-esque, I don’t know how he got that out.
“I’ve admired him for a long time. He’s had a bit of rust but tonight we saw his capabilities – and in Europe away from home you need your goalkeeper to play well. I know that from my own experiences as a player and manager at Celtic.”
Lennon, also confirmed that talks aimed at re-signing striker Jamie Maclaren from German outfit SV Darmstadt 98 should reach a successful conclusion.
He added: “I think it’s getting closer and hopefully we’ll have something over the line by the weekend. It’s another body and a good player in the building.”