Celtic saw their hopes of securing European football after Christmas come to an end as they lost 2-0 against Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio side on Tuesday night.
The result saw the team drop out of the Champions League with a late brace from Ciro Immobile succumbing Celtic to defeat in the Italian capital.
It was always going to be a tough task to get a result against the Biancocelesti, given the injuries that were limiting the options available to Celtic in the attacking areas, but the defeat and resulting exit from the competition have left Celtic fans wondering if we can ever improve our performance in Europe’s premiere competiton.
Joe Hart – 5
Hart had a couple of nervy moments, misjudging a set-piece for the second game in a row which almost resulted in Lazio’s opener. For the Italian’s eventual late flurry, the English stopper was incredibly slow to react for Immobile’s opener but there wasn’t much he could do about the veteran forward’s second goal.
Alistair Johnston – 6
Johnston had a solid performance despite being on a yellow card for a little less than an hour. He offered support to the attacking efforts but was caught out early in the game which allowed Felipe Anderson a free header, an opportunity that the Brazilian passed up.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – 6
The American didn’t put much of a foot wrong over the course of the 90 minutes but he was caught out by a deflection that led to Immobile’s opening goal.
Liam Scales – 5
The Irishman was caught out on a couple of occasions on the ball by the Lazio frontmen and he wasn’t strong enough defensively as Immobile breezed past him for Lazio’s second goal which secured the points.
Greg Taylor – 5
It was a quiet game for Taylor who wasn’t involved in the action all that much, perhaps because of a booking he received early on in the game.
Matt O’Riley – 6
The Dane put in a solid all-round performance in the middle of the park. He passed and defended well but he could have had more influence on the game to help the Celtic effort given the incredibly high standards he has set this season.
Callum McGregor – 6
McGregor didn’t do much wrong on the night as he contributed well whenever Celtic looked to get forward. He was controlling a lot of the play up until Lazio struck late on.
Paulo Bernardo – 6
It was a decent performance from the Benfica loanee as he linked up well with the rest of the attacking players, but he couldn’t provide the killer pass to unlock the Lazio backline. He may feel that he gave up possession a bit too easily at some points.
Yang Hyun-jun – 6
The South Korean should have had his name on the scoresheet early in the second-half but instead of heading goalwards, he attempted to cut the ball back to Kyogo and the move fizzled out. He provided a lot of energy in the attacking efforts and shouldn’t be disheartened by his performance.
Kyogo Furuhashi – 5
The Japanese forward had a chance to open the scoring early in the second half but his tame effort was easily saved by Ivan Provedel. He wasn’t involved in the game much due to a lack of service but he passed up a few decent attacking opportunities.
James Forrest – 5
Forrest didn’t have much involvement in the game and was substituted on the hour mark for Mikey Johnston.
Mikey Johnston – 5
Johnston made a good impact from the bench against the Italians as he consistently drove at their backline.
Oh Hyeon-gyu – 5
Oh brought a different dynamic to the Celtic attack and helped contribute to the offensive endeavours for the 20 minutes he was on the park.
David Turnbull – N/A
Brought on with four minutes to go and didn’t make much of an impact.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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