‘It’s not like him’: Lennon honestly reacts to display of £7m Celtic man from yesterday

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Celtic scored a late goal to rescue a point at Livingston on Wednesday night.

Neil Lennon has honestly stated that Christopher Jullien’s mistake for Celtic conceding their second goal against Livingston yesterday was ‘not like him’ because he has usually been ‘outstanding’ this season, as he told BBC Sport. 

In the second half, Lyndon Dykes brushed of Jullien’s challenge on the edge of the penalty area to cut the ball back for Scott Robinson who put Livingston in the lead. But it could be argued that the Celtic man slipped as he tried to win the ball.

After taking the lead to a brilliant Callum McGregor strike, Celtic were pegged back minutes later, but it was Tom Rogic’s late goal that sealed a now valuable point for his team.

After the game, Lennon wasn’t pleased with his side’s ‘sloppy’ defending, but he did admire the character and fight the champions showed on a difficult pitch. 

“We have given away two sloppy goals from our point of view, really sloppy,” Lennon told BBC Sport. “It might have been a foul on Fraser, I would need to see it again. 

“It’s not like him [Jullien]. He has been outstanding this season, so he just lost his balance and we got done for the goal. But the response from the team was everything I would expect from them and more. 

“And we were pounding away. Some of the football and some of the football we played at was breathtaking on a slow pitch in Livingston.”

Centre-back Jullien joined Celtic in the summer when they paid French side, Toulouse, £7 million for his services [Herlad Scotland], and he has been a consistent performer since then.

He first properly announced himself to the Celtic faithful when he produced a high-quality performance at Ibrox against Rangers during the first Old Firm match of the season. 

And now in his first season at Parkhead, he has already helped Celtic to a trophy following that winner in the League Cup in December against Rangers, and is on the verge of helping them to nine-in-a-row.