AJER AND HIGHER
Lennon joy as Celtic dig deep to grind out Pittodrie victory
NEIL LENNON hailed his Celtic side for digging deep to repel an Aberdeen storm and grind out a vital late winner.
Kristoffer Ajer’s classy strike nine minutes from time overcame a spirited Dons effort after Ash Taylor cancelled out Callum McGregor’s tenth-minute opener.
The better side for long spells in a swirling Pittodrie wind, Dons boss Derek McInnes claimed a 2-1 defeat was ‘harsh’ on his team.
Admitting he would have settled for a point after his side struggled to pass the ball at times, Lennon praised his players for snatching all three. ‘That’s exactly what
I want from my team,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘It’s not always about painting pretty pictures all the time, sometimes you have to dig in. ‘That was the hardest game I’ve had by a considerable way. Conditions were awful and we were playing against a very good side. It’s a magnificent three points for us. ‘I’m thrilled. It was a massive win in treacherously difficult conditions to play football. All credit goes to the players who dug out a marvellous result for us. You can’t always play slick, quick football. ‘We had to grind it out today.
It’s a good sign. We’ve got a bit of character and resilience. ‘They are a team, there is good solidarity within them. They keep going. Their fitness levels are good as well. ‘We are not getting ahead of ourselves, there is a lot of football still to play. But, in the context of the run we are on, it’s a big win.’ Securing a ninth straight away win in the league, Ajer’s winning goal also made it eight league wins on the bounce in the Granite City. ‘For the winning goal, Jamesy (Forrest) has opened the pitch right up and then the pass is perfectly weighted,’ said Lennon. ‘Big Kris, of all people, timed his run to perfection and showed a lot of composure to finish it off. ‘It was a great goal and an important goal. ‘We didn’t want to drop points but it was looking like it. ‘A point at Pittodrie can sometimes be a decent result. In these conditions, the game could have gone either way but we have come up with a really important piece of football.’