Celtic 1-4 Sparta Prague: Lukas Julis’ hat-trick and Ladislav Krejci goal leaves Neil Lennon’s side bottom of Group H and facing an uphill battle to qualify for knockout-stages
- Celtic suffered a 4-1 defeat at home to Sparta Prague in the Europa League
- Lukas Julis scored a hat-trick before Ladislav Krejci added a fourth
- Leigh Griffiths briefly gave the hosts hope to make it 2-1 in the 65th minute
- But Neil Lennon’s side crumbled at the end and are now bottom of Group H
Celtic now face an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League Lukas Julis’ hat-trick gave Sparta Prague a 4-1 victory in Glasgow.
The Czech side took the lead in the 26th minute after Celtic failed to clear the ball from a corner with Julis thrashing the ball home from close range. The away side doubled their lead just before half-time when Adam Karabec laid the ball off to Julis on the edge of the area with the forward firing the ball beyond Scott Bain.
Leigh Griffiths got the hosts back into the game in the 65th minute when Tom Rogic saw his shot saved with Griffiths on hand to tap-in the rebound. But their hope was short-lived when Julis completed his hat-trick ten minutes later.
Ladislav Krejci added a fourth in the 90th minute to compound the misery for Lennon’s team.
More to follow.
Lukas Julis scored a hat-trick as Sparta Prague beat Celtic 4-1 in Glasgow on Thursday
The Czech side were 2-0 up at half-time and looked comfortable against Neil Lennon’s side
Celtic are now bottom of Group H and face an uphill battle to progress to the knockouts