Scott Bain endured a miserable night as Celtic’s Europa League campaign came to an end at Sparta Prague with Chris Sutton labelling the goalkeeper ‘hopeless’ at full-time, while speaking to BT Sport (26 November, 10.30pm).
A month ago, the former Dundee stopper was Celtic’s hero, a brilliant penalty save against Lille ensuring the Scottish champions got their European charge up and running in northern France.
At the time, Neil Lennon’s side would have been feeling confident, and justifiably so, ahead of a double-header with a Sparta Prague side who have struggled domestically in recent weeks.
But, after that 4-1 dismantling before the international break sting ringing in the ears, Celtic suffered the same fate as Sparta once again ripped the Hoops’ error-prone backline apart in the Czech capital.
Kristoffer Ajer and Hatem Elhamed were both guilty of individual errors during another humiliating defeat against distinctly average opposition but, according to Celtic legend Sutton, goalkeeper Bain must take his fair share of the blame.
The 29-year-old failed to keep out Lukas Julis’s back-post effort as Sparta took the lead after Odsonne Edouard’s opener and was then caught miles out of position as Srdan Plavsic strolled in the fourth in stoppage-time.
“I thought the goalkeeper was hopeless on the second goal and what he’s doing there (in the fourth goal)… that sums up the mindset at Celtic,” said a clearly dejected Sutton, who labelled Lennon’s ‘delusional’ after an oddly positive post-match interview.
“If I’m honest, I thought Sparta Prague were the better team throughout the game. This is a Sparta team who have lost four out of their last five games – this is a team Celtic should be beating and they have been humiliated – 8-2 on aggregate.”
It all could have been different, of course, had Edouard netted his second of the game when the score was still 2-1.
But the Frenchman, who remains a shadow of the player who shone both at home and abroad last term, slipped and fired tamely at the Sparta Prague goalkeeper. With that, Celtic’s hopes went up in smoke.
“It was a huge moment Edouard really hasn’t hit his straps this season,” Sutton added.
Celtic have won just two of their last nine games, conceding 24 goals in the process.
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