Mohamed Elyounoussi 'let his feet do the talking' as Celtic star answers phone fury with Fir Park hat-trick

Celtic attacker Mohamed Elyounoussi says he ‘let his feet do the talking’ after responding to off-the-park criticism by netting a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win at Motherwell.

Mohamed Elyounoussi is congratulated by manager Neil Lennon after bagging a hat-trick against Motherwell. Picture: SNS

The Norwegian was vilified for being caught on camera looking at his mobile phone from the sidelines after being substituted in Celtic’s embarrassing 4-1 loss to Sparta Prague in midweek.

Ex-Celtic star Paul Lambert even went as far as to say the on-loan Southampton player let down legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein with his actions.

Despite the furore, manager Neil Lennon said that no punishment would be handed down to the player, who explained he was merely checking the other scores as Celtic sank to the bottom of the group.

He responded by hitting Motherwell for three in the early lunchtime kick-off, netting twice in the opening half-hour before making sure of the points with a 76th minute header after Declan Gallagher had nodded the hosts back into the match. Olivier Ntcham came off the bench to complete the scoring.

Elyounoussi told Sky Sports: "I’ve already answered about Thursday. It was a big misunderstanding. I let my feet do the talking.

“We showed character to respond from Thursday’s game and get the three points. The good thing about football is that there are always new games. We wanted to show a new side of ourselves and I think we did that today.

"My first one was a little lucky, right place right time. My second was a great ball from Tom [Rogic] and the third was a great ball from Hatem [Elhamed]. I’m delighted I could help the team get three points.

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