World News – UK – Celtic 3-2 Lille: David Turnbull plays a five-goal thriller as Hoops ends Europa League campaign at a climax

Soccer

Celtic
against Lille. Europa League Group H. .

Thursday 10. December 2020, 8:00 p.m..

Celtic Park.

Match report as Celtic ends its Europa League campaign with a thrilling win over Lille; Christopher Jullien, Callum McGregor and David Turnbull all hit the target as hosts book a record win in the group stage on their sixth try.

David Turnbull starred for Celtic when they beat Lille 3-2 to claim their first home win since September and culminate in a disappointing Europa League campaign.

Turnbull took the winner after 75 minutes and put in an impressive performance on his first European start for Celtic after an exciting evening where the good, the bad and the ugly of Neil Lennon’s team could be seen in equal measure.

Celtic rightly led at halftime thanks to Christopher Jullien’s header (21) and Callum McGregor’s penalty (28), who scored an equalizer from Jonathan Ikone (24). .

Former Celtic borrower Timothy Weah pulled back the level of Lille (71) in the second half after another defensive mistake by Shane Duffy, but Turnbull’s cool finish after Kris Aier’s cross secured Celtic a win in the first group stage despite them last place occupied the table.

Celtic: Danger (7), Duffy (7), Jullien (8), Ajer (8), Frimpong (6), McGregor (7), Soro (8), Turnbull (9), Laxalt (7), Elyounoussi (7), Klimala (7).

Subs: Ajeti (6), Rogic (6), Henderson (8), Welsh (6).

Lille: Maignan (7), Niasse (6), Fonte (5), Djalo (6), Bradaric (6), Ikone (7), Soumare (6), Xeka (6), Weah (7), David (6 )), Yazici (7).

Subs: Botman (6), Bamba (6), Lihadji (6), Andre (6), Mandava (6).

Man of the game: David Turnbull.

Little more than pride was at stake for Celtic’s players, but for Neil Lennon this was a chance to bring some seeds of recovery into his team’s shape after a terrifying run of two wins in 12 games. With a decisive league game against Kilmarnock on Sunday, where a fan protest is expected before the game, this result could calm his critics a little.

Lennon has cut a competitive figure in the last few weeks amid the vocal outrage of supporters as Celtic’s appearances fell off a cliff. Having received public support from the club board twice a week and his job seemed safe at least until the New Year, the manager took the opportunity to ring the bell.

Northern Ireland goalkeeper Conor Hazard, 22, made his debut and there was a first start for Ivorian midfielder Ismaila Soro, who joined the club in January. The much-criticized Duffy returned to the defense while Turnbull made only his second start since signing with Motherwell.

Celtic’s formation, which has been analyzed many times during the last bad results, raised its eyebrows early on. Ajer was right-back behind Jeremie Frimpong in right midfield in what looked like a 4-1-4-1 system, but over the course of half-time the Norwegian often fell back into the three alongside Duffy and Jullien.

There was an alarming incident early on when Frimpong clattered headfirst into the billboards on the contact line as he cleared up, but notably, after about a minute, he stood up and appeared to be unharmed.

Lille had their first clear chance after a free kick after 17 minutes after a foul by Jullien on former Celtic borrower Weah. Yusuf Yazici’s shot fell over the wall, but not fast enough to cause hazard problems. Celtic broke in numbers and Turnbull’s rear wheel found Patryk Klimala but his fierce shot was knocked out by Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Moments later, Celtic took the lead. In Turnbull’s corner, Jullien was unmarked, and his stripe had enough power to hit Ikone on the far post. It was a positive start for a team that lacked confidence but soon after Lille was level thanks to a terrible mistake from McGregor.

The captain missed an attempted back pass to Hazard and gave the property to Yazici, who ran into the box. On his cut, Ikone hit the near post unmarked, hammering him home, making it an eighth straight clean sheet for Celtic.

Goalkeeper Conor Hazard got off to a surprising start for Celtic when Neil Lennon made major changes to his line-up to face Lille.

The Parkhead manager switched his squad for the final group stage game of the Europa League as he gave his fringe players much-needed playing time. Ismaila Soro, David Turnbull and Patryk Klimala started.

The lead was regained three minutes later thanks to the persistence of Klimala, who showed the stinginess to burglar Xeka. Then he flicked it in the path of Frimpong, who had his feet swept away from under him in the box while shooting Domagoj Bradaric. It was enough to force the young Dutchman to leave the field and Ewan Henderson replaced him.

McGregor stepped forward, atoning for his earlier mistake as he drove the penalty wide past Maignan – a third goal in seven breathless minutes. Neither team was in control; both were happy to oppose the other, and both defenses looked fragile.

The positive about this scenario was that Turnbull had a chance to thrive. Hardly seen since his 2lb. 75m summer move from Fir Park, he was central to every attack move but made the wrong decision just before the break when he got up on the field and decided to shoot instead of playing Klimala.

Lille flew to Celtic with renewed energy early in the second half as they tried to achieve a result that would put them at the top of the group ahead of AC Milan. Yazici’s shot was deflected by a final attack from Soro. Ikone then danced into the box, but Jullien did just enough to avert the danger. McGregor’s wrong game almost took another turn when his attempted block from Cheikh Niasse’s cross deflected the ball onto the foot of the post but then spun out of play.

After conquering this mini-tower, Celtic stepped forward with renewed vigor and created a great opportunity to extend his lead. Ajer cut into it and slid a nice ball into Turnbull halfway through the corner, who suddenly had only Maignan to beat, but his shot was deflected and twisted past the post. More goals seemed likely – and two more followed quickly, one at each end.

Duffy, who had looked relatively composed after his recent bouts, was booked for a harmless challenge against Isaac Lihadji on the left. Then he couldn’t completely block the following free kick and Weah, lurking on the edge of the box, shot home against his former club.

Unbending, Celtic streamed forward again. Turnbull found Ajer on the right, dodging a couple of tackles and then bringing the ball back into the box, where Turnbull swept home his first Celtic goal, to the delight of his manager, who hit the air on the sideline.

Lennon could afford to smile after a series of results. The challenge for his team now is to achieve such results and performance on a consistent basis.

Celtic hosts Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday; Kick-off at 3 p.m.. The Europa League returns in February with the round of 16.

The draw will take place on Monday the 14th. December, at 12. 00 a.m. in Nyon – after the Champions League draw in the round of 16. You can follow it through the Sky Sports platforms. For all information on the Ko-Phases click here.

Don’t miss your chance to win the 250. Landing £ 000 in the Super 6 round on Saturday. Play for free, entries by 3:00 p.m..

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Celtic F. . C.. . , Lille OSC, Neil Lennon, UEFA Europa League, David Turnbull, Ismaila Soro