Neil Lennon lauds Celtic’s ‘tough little hombre’ after battling Champions League display

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Celtic’s rousing victory over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League was a superb team performance.

Brendan Rodgers will be hard-pressed to find any fault in Celtic’s performance as they made their mark in UEFA’s new-look flagship tournament last night.

Goals from five different goalscorers included a finish from a defender (Liam Scales), midfielder (Arne Engels), a winger (Daizen Maeda) and two of Celtic’s frontmen (Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah) to cap off a wonderful team performance.

The 5-1 win showed Celtic at their attacking best but it was the performance of one of Rodgers’ defenders that left Neil Lennon blown away.

• READ MORE: Celtic’s Full Champions League Record Since 2001

Alistair Johnston can ‘mix it’ at Celtic

Alistair Johnston was superb in Celtic’s win last night as he and Nicholas Kuhn terrorised the Slovakians but it was what the Canadian was doing in defence that impressed the former Hoops gaffer.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Lennon said, “Johnston’s no shrinking violet. He can mix it.

“Even though he looks small I’ve been so impressed with him for Celtic, particularly in the big games.

“He’s a tough little hombre so he is and he can stand up to any physical challenge.”

Johnston was one of Celtic’s best players in defence and attack last night and was at the heart of everything Rodgers’ side threw at Slovan Bratislava.

Johnston’s battling Champions League outing

The Canadian international defender has been excellent domestically this season but in the Champions League win against Bratislava, Johnston was imperious.

Rated 7.9 by Fotmob, Johnston played 77 minutes in the 5-1 win battling his way to winning five out of six of his duels.

With a 100% success rate in winning his aerial battles, Johnston also won three out of his four ground duels.

On top of that, the Celtic defender made one block, three clearances, two headed clearances, six defensive actions and two ball recoveries.

It really was a very polished defensive display by the Celtic hero as he proved that he can mix it with the best players in Europe just as he did in the Copa America with Canada in the summer.