Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Celtic 2 Ajax 1: Lennon says group is ‘wide open again’

Neil Lennon celebrates after Beram Kayal scores to make it 2-0.
Neil Lennon celebrates after Beram Kayal scores to make it 2-0.

Neil Lennon is confident his Celtic side can do a Dutch double following their 2-1 Champions League win over Ajax at Parkhead.

After defeats in their first two Group H fixtures to AC Milan and Barcelona, the Scottish champions grabbed their first three points to leapfrog Frank De Boer’s side and take them off the bottom of the table.

A James Forrest penalty two minutes before the break and a deflected Beram Kayal drive early in the second half put the home side into a comfortable lead.

In the 88th minute Hoops substitute Nir Biton, who replaced Mikael Lustig, was shown a straight red card by referee Ivan Bebek for his challenge on Thulani Serero before Ajax substitute Lasse Schone grabbed an injury-time consolation.

With AC Milan drawing 1-1 at home to Barca, Celtic are within two points of the second-placed Italian club after with Ajax at the bottom of the table with one point ahead of the Hoops’ trip to Holland in a fortnight.

The former Celtic skipper, who revealed right-back Mikael Lustig had a recurrence of a hip complaint said: “I feel we can get results away from home but we are going to have to do very well.

“I knew the group was going to be difficult but I was happy with the performances in the first two games.

“It was encouraging going into the double-header against Ajax. We were in every game and that is no mean feat with the calibre of clubs we have been against us.

“If we had lost the game last night, with no points after three games, we would have been out, we would have been chasing our tails but we have given ourselves a great chance now.

“A point would not have been the end of the world but we got the win and it is wide open again.”

De Boer insisted his side deserved more from the game but remains confident that they can win the return game.

The former Rangers player said: “Celtic didn’t create anything although they scored twice, once with a penalty.

“We dominated the game but only scored once and should have equalised before they got their second.

“It is going to be very hard for us to get second place but I have confidence in the third place.

“We have one point and if we win at home we will be one point ahead of Celtic.

“It will be difficult but if we play that way again…eight times out of 10 the best team wins and I thought we were the best team.

“But only goals count and we will have to do it in the Arena.”