Neil Lennon’s Celtic suffered a disappointing 2-0 Europa League defeat to CFR Cluj on Thursday night.
Cluj coach Dan Petrescu believes his side could have beaten Celtic by five clear goals during Thursday’s Europa League clash in Romania, speaking to DigiSport – though he was happy to settle for a 2-0 scoreline.
With the Scottish Premiership champions having already sealed a place in the knockout stages, Neil Lennon took the opportunity to shuffle his pack and give a couple of fringe players a rare chance to impress.
But apart from the eye-catching teenage duo Mikey Johnstone and Scott Robertson, a second-string Celtic side were well below par in an error-strewn defeat at the hands of a club they have played against four times in 2019/20 alone.
Cluj scored both of their goals in the second half, the first coming after Boli Bolingoli switched off from a set-piece. And the typically outspoken Petrescu was keen to point out just how many chances his side had created in a proud night for Romanian football.
“Celtic made some changes but the match was balanced in the first half. In the second half, we played better, as always happens, and the players knew what to do,” said the former Chelsea and Southampton defender.
“We made good use of the spaces. Before, I was upset after the draw, I didn’t want (to play against) Celtic anymore. But today, I think we could have scored five goals.”
The likes of Scott Sinclair, Lewis Morgan, Vakoun Issouf Bayo and Moritz Bauer failed to stake their claim for a place in Lennon’s starting XI during the final match of the Europa League group stage and will now be expected to return to their place in reserve.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
