The Hoops were unable to make amends for their Old Firm loss on Saturday as AC Milan handed them another defeat at Celtic Park. Neil Lennon opted for a weakened side to face off against the frighteningly in-form Italians, who cruised to their tenth win in a row.
It took 14 minutes for Milan to open up the scoring after Rade Krunic beat a struggling Varsilis Barkas for an early lead. After netting a second just before half-time, substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi’s strike looked to put Celtic back in the game, but another Milan goal sealed the result.
With Odsonne Edouard currently ruled out, it looked likely that Lennon would opt for the same strike force he deployed against Rangers. However, he instead dropped both Elyounoussi and Patryk Klimala to the bench and put faith in elusive striker Leigh Griffiths.
Leigh Griffiths stats vs AC Milan
It was certainly an odd decision to start a player who has featured just twice this season, but it’s arguably one of the biggest places Lennon went wrong last night.
Whilst the defence could have been tighter to stop the Milan forwards, the starting Celtic attack was extremely disappointing.
According to Sofascore, Griffiths made just eight successful passes and attempted no shots towards goal. The 30-year-old also struggled to create chances for his teammates, with no successful crosses, long balls or dribbles registered. Needless to say, he was hauled off at half-time and replaced by Ryan Christie, who had a much stronger game.
The midfielder came on and set Elyounoussi up for Celtic’s only goal of the game. He also made a total of three key passes in the second half and created an additional big chance for the Hoops to score.
Griffiths has recently returned from a calf injury, which saw him sidelined for 11 matches. He may still have some fitness to catch up on and will more than likely be left on the bench in Celtic’s next match against Aberdeen on Sunday.
In other news, Celtic will be wishing they had Fraser Forster to fend off AC Milan…
The post Leigh Griffiths let Celtic down in weakened Neil Lennon side against AC Milan first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
