NEIL LENNON praised his Celtic players for remaining on track for their eighth successive title following the 2-0 win over St Mirren in Paisley last night.
However, the interim Hoops manager wasn’t quite so impressed by the fan who threw the firework that stunned Saints keeper Vaclav Hladky in the aftermath of Ryan Christie’s late strike to make certain of all three points.
A pyrotechnic was lobbed on to the pitch from the away end as the impressive second-half substitute for the toiling Oliver Ntcham added to Timothy Weah’s first-half header.
Lennon, speaking to BT Sport, said: “From the club’s standpoint, the players, the staff and everyone behind the scenes, we don’t want pyrotechnics in stadiums.
“I don’t see what purpose it serves. We just keep echoing, please don’t bring them into the grounds. They’re just not necessary.”
OUCH…St Mirren keeper Vaclav Hladky holds his head after the bang of the firework following the second goal.
There was also an incident involving Scott Brown when he tangled with Paisley defender James Kellerman in the second-half which attracted some attention from some quarters.
However, Lennon completely exonerated his skipper and said: “The Brownie one is totally accidental, it’s not deliberate at all. It’s not like he has raised his foot. It’s just on the follow-through from the tackle.”
There was another flashpoint moment when it looked as though Kristoffer Ajer had been caught with a swinging arm from Saints forward Duckens Nazon.
Lennon noted: “As for the elbow, it might be a bit different. But I’m not refereeing. I’m not judge and jury, so I’ll let other people decide.”
On the game, the Irishman added: “It was good, very strong and it was controlled. The downside is we could have won by more. Off the back of all the drama, hype and tension from Sunday, it was a very good performance and I’m very pleased.
BIG NOISE..Ryan Christie looks back to see what all the fuss is about after the firework exploded.
“Yeah, there was concern as you always need that second goal. We’ve been saying this for quite a while.
“But we kept probing. Ryan and Odsonne coming on gave us that bit extra quality in the final third. We had very good control of the game.”
French midfielder Ntcham, starting only his second game of 2019, struggled to make an impact and passed up the ideal opportunity to give the champions a two-goal lead in the first-half when he fluffed a penalty-kick.
His spot-kick was too close to the keeper who palmed it back to him and this time he clipped the crossbar with the rebound.
It must be said the St Mirren ground is far from being a favourite of the ex-Manchester City man – he was red-carded there earlier this season in the goalless draw.
Celtic’s march towards yet another title success continues against Livingston at Parkhead on Saturday.
