Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SCOTTISH CUP SEMI-FINAL ACT OF QUAD
Lennon hails his Bhoys as they take a giant leap towards their fourth Treble
NEIL LENNON reckons Celtic’s cup incredibles are on the verge of completing an “unheard of” achievement.
The Parkhead manager was thrilled as his troops dismissed Aberdeen to move into next month’s 2019-20 Scottish Cup Final.
Goals from Ryan Christie and Mohamed Elyounoussi earned the champions a staggering 35th consecutive win in knockout competition.
As well as sealing a date with Hearts in the showpiece, Celtic’s victory also leaves
them 90 minutes from an unprecedented fourth-successive domestic Treble. Lennon said: “They can be really happy. They are on the cusp of another Treble, which is unheard of.
“A c h i e v i n g greatness as they go along, that gets overlooked at times. It’s magnificent for the players and the fans and I thought we were outstanding. It was a stunning first half performance in particular.
“We were going into the game off a tough European tie last week against a good side. Because of that there was maybe a little bit of fatigue in the second half but I thought we were in control and now have a cup final to look forward to. It says a lot about the mentality of the players. I ’m not saying we’ve turned the corner completely because we can get better still but it’s another victor y in a cup tie where the players have s h o w n ma g n i f i c e n t consistency.”
Lennon lauded the individual and collective quality of the “top class” strikes and continued: “The first was magnificent after we’d been unlucky not to score earlier through Odsonne Edouard.
“But Ryan then came up with an absolute pearler. That set us up and I thought we were vibrant after that.
“We played a lot of good football and the second goal came from a beautiful set-up from Tom Rogic. He is just a class football player and we just want to keep him motivated and injury free if we can because he is such a massive player for us.”
Celtic’s win was their first in five games but Lennon insisted: “I ’ve no problem with the players’ character or their form.
“There was the second half against Milan, I thought we played well at Aberdeen and were unfortunate not to win.
“We were outstanding against Lille and followed up with a really good performance. It’s not that they needed confidence, they just needed to get that win again.”