Celtic dampen the noise around Neil Lennon as 4-1 victory at Motherwell earns breathing space

Celtic manager Neil Lennon embraces Mohamed Elyounoussi at full-time after the striker scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Motherwell (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

There will be no-one at Celtic fooled into thinking a, relatively, straightforward 4-1 victory at Motherwell is a panacea for all the Scottish champions’ ills.

Crucially, though, a victory underpinned by a Mohamed Elyounoussi hat-trick affords what Neil Lennon and his team needs most: some breathing space. It buys him time to remedy the maladies that have afflicted his team for so much of this season without dealing with an ever-more deafening chorus calling him out.

Going into the international break, had Lennon’s team failed to claim only a second win in seven games, there would have been fears about the impact of the decibel levels from the increasing ranks of the discontented. Ultimately, Celtic did so with a bit to spare, even allowing for once again displaying jitteriness in a defence that did not feature Shane Duffy from the first whistle.

There was the drive, aggression and attacking elan that put the display in a different stratosphere from the shambolic and soulless performance that resulted in a 4-1 thumping from Sparta Prague on Thursday. Lennon maintained he got the basics of hunger, humility and application that were posted missing in the horrendous Europa League encounter. It is hard to argue with the assessment, even if there were dips and dodgy moments. Some among the Celtic faithful have hardened their hearts against Lennon, though, that they will still find plenty to fault.