NEIL Lennon last night hailed his goalkeeper Fraser Forster for the “miracle” saves he pulled off to earn Celtic a famous triumph over Lazio in their Europa League game at Parkhead.
The Scottish champions fought back after falling behind to a Manuel Lazzari goal in the first-half with a second-half strike from Ryan Christie and Christopher Jullien with a minute remaining.
But Lennon singled out Forster, who denied Marco Parolo in the second-half and Danilo Cataldi in injury-time, for praise for his contribution to a win that keeps his team on top of Group E with three games remaining.
“I’ve seen it (the Cataldi save) again,” he said. “It’s an unbelievable volley. I know what he (Forster) is capable of and he’s starting to show it. He makes saves other keepers can’t make.
“The block from Parolo when Jullien slipped was a brilliant save. Again, me being over critical, I thought he maybe could have done better with the first goal.
“But then you see the two world-class saves he makes in the second half. That’s why we brought him in. You need your goalkeeper to perform in big games and he’s certainly adept at doing that.”
Lennon added: “It’s so important to win your home games. That was a Champions League game for me tonight with the quality on show from both sides, the tempo the game was played at.
“Lazio came to really play. For us to get on the positive side of that result is fantastic. Yes, we have seven points but there is still a lot of work to be done in the group to make sure we qualify.”
Asked where the result ranked for him personally as a manager, Lennon said: “It’s certainly up there. That’s the first time I’ve beaten an Italian team at my seventh go. It’s a very proud night for everyone associated with the club.
“We look forward to the match in Rome now, but we know how difficult it will be in Rome on the evidence of what we have seen tonight. But over the piece, to go toe-to-toe with Lazio and come away with three points is a huge shot in the arm for the team.”
Lennon, whose side will take on Lazio in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in their next Group E match in a fortnight, feels his side can improve on their Parkhead performance.
“Lazio were superb," he said. "They had periods in the game where they were the better team. I thought we started the game well, but then he psychology of the game changed when Lazio scored and they got the upper hand.
“We needed to get more support up to Edouard and thankfully that worked. At times against quality sides, you need your goalkeeper to play well and Fraser pulled off two outstanding saves. Then the players dug out more energy and got their chances. It’s been an epic night for the players and the club.
“I thought my captain (Scott Brown) was outstanding, absolutely brilliant. There were some great individual performances. But you can see it’s a bit of a learning curve as well for some of the players. There is some naivete at times in our play."
Simone Inzaghi, the Italians’ manager, felt that former England goalkeeper Forster, who is on loan at Celtic from Southampton until the end of the season, had been the difference between the two teams on the night.
“I don’t think the team deserved to lose,” he said. “We did play against a very, very good team, but I thought we had lots of chances ourselves, more than enough to win the game. We would have had it not been for some incredible saves.
“I thought we were a really good team tonight. We needed that second goal and if it hadn’t been for the two miracle saves and (Ciro) Immobile’s miss I think we would have got it. We have lost an important game, but we look forward to future games.”
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