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Celtic boss Neil Lennon praises his players after they won 2-0 at Ibrox against Rangers to sit top of the Scottish Premiership
Neil Lennon was proud of his Celtic side after they delivered an Old Firm “masterclass” to beat Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox.
Goals from Odsonne Edouard and Jonny Hayes ensured Celtic gained the bragging rights in Glasgow and moved them three points clear of their rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
- Rangers 0-2 Celtic: Match report and player ratings
- Scottish Premiership table
Celtic had missed out on the group stages of the Champions League and needed extra-time to beat Dunfermline in the League Cup at Parkhead recently, which saw the manager and team come in for criticism.
Conversely, Rangers had started the season positively in the league and in Europe and had been seen as favourites by many coming into Sunday’s game, but a victorious Lennon hit back at his side’s critics and praised his players.
“I’m so proud. I’m proud of the team. I thought it was another outstanding performance. Everyone has written us off. We’ve had a difficult couple of weeks,” Lennon told Sky Sports.
“Myself, the board, the players have all been written off so early. But we don’t believe the noise. We don’t believe the hype.
“We’ve come here and performed an outstanding masterclass of how to play in a derby at Ibrox.
“Allan McGregor has made some good saves and kept them in the game and kept the score down from three or four. But we were confident coming here and my captain set the tone today and we came out on top and deservedly so.
“The mentality of the team was outstanding. We came here as underdogs, for whatever reason, but we put down a marker today.
“It’s brilliant, it’s been a monumental month for us in terms of how much football we’ve played and we’ve had one bad half of football in nine games. Hopefully now we can kick on from here.”
Gerrard: I’ll share responsibility
Defeat for Rangers was just their second in their last 19 games and ended their unbeaten start to the season ahead of the international break.
Manager Steven Gerrard lamented his side’s display but said he would also take his share of the responsibility.
2:44 Steven Gerrard admits Rangers' performance was not good enough and also blames himself after they lost 2-0 to Celtic
“Our performance collectively and individually wasn’t good enough to win a derby. I’m part of that so I’ll take as much responsibility that comes my way,” he told Sky Sports.
“To win these games we have to win more one-v-ones than the opposition but I think there’s only one player who can hold his head up high and that’s Jon Flanagan.
“I don’t think Celtic outplayed us, they just pressed us hard and were effective in their game-plan. We couldn’t handle their direct play.”
Sourse: skysports.com
