Celtic’s late win at Kilmarnock was ‘devastating’ as Brad Lyons refused to blame the officials for the heartbreaking Rugby Park defeat.
Julian Araujo’s late Celtic winner sparked scenes of joy as Kilmarnock surrendered a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 deep into injury time.
And as Neil McCann embarrassed himself with his Celtic comments after the defeat, Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons was more magnanimous about the loss.
Why have Celtic been able to score so many late goals this season?
Lyons was up front and honest and said while Kilmarnock’s defeat Celtic was the ‘sorest he can remember’, the veteran midfielder was not blaming the match officials like his Neil McCann hinted towards.
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Brad Lyons names Kilmarnock’s Celtic defeat as the ‘sorest’ of his career
Being 2-0 up with just 45 minutes left to play would have any team confident of beating Celtic but as every fan knows, the Bhoys never give up until that final whistle goes.
And when Araujo’s goal sealed the win for Celtic, the Kilmarnock midfielder admits that was ‘devastating’ for him and his team.
Lyons admitted to the Daily Record, “This one was probably the sorest defeat I can remember but it makes it even more sore when we concede from two long throw-ins.
“I think that’s three long throw-ins in two games we’ve conceded from and then we’ve lost the game.
“The way we implemented our game plan was absolutely brilliant but we shot ourselves in our own foot, so it’s devastating.”
Brad Lyons says Kilmarnock players are ‘blaming ourselves’ for Celtic defeat
While fans of Rangers and Hearts peddle the nonsense that Celtic are always getting too much injury time, Lyons is not buying into that, even though McCann raged he couldn’t work out where the time came from.
Lyons continued, “We have chances to maybe put the game to bed because obviously 3-0 is more comfortable than 2-0.
“It’s always that dodgy scoreline but if you give us a 2-0 lead at half-time, we would snap your arm off against anyone, even though Celtic have their qualities.
“But against anyone at half-time 2-0 up, you should be winning the game.
“I went down with a head injury, Dom (Thompson) went down with a head injury, there’s a few subs and stuff.
“So, no, we’re not blaming anyone, we’re blaming ourselves for conceding those two late goals.”
Lyons needs to drop that memo to his manager who has suggested on more than one occasion that the time added on was to blame for helping Celtic’s brilliant comeback.
With Celtic just three points behind Hearts, the title race is bound to take a few more twists and turns before the final fixture in May.
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