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Ross County put more pressure on Neil Lennon by pulling Celtic out of the Betfred Cup.
Ross Stewart’s penalty in the 39th minute and Alex Iacovitti’s late header earned the county a 2-0 second-round victory to ensure Celtic’s streak of domestic successes ends this season.
Celtic can clinch 12 trophies in a row if they beat Heart next month in last season’s delayed Scottish Cup final, but their 35-match winning streak in domestic cups ended with an uninspiring display at Celtic Park.
It was a first loss in the cup since Ronny Deila’s team lost to Mark Warburton’s Rangers in the semi-final of this tournament in April 2016.
Lennon will face more questions about his future after Celtic’s loss to Ross County
Celtic have already had a torrid start to the new season
The defeat will put more pressure on Celtic boss Neil Lennon
Lennon stated that he had the full backing of majority shareholder Dermot Desmond and CEO Peter Lawwell after Celtic missed out on their second European competition of the season on Thursday.
But Celtic have now won just twice in 10 games and, while they missed several good opportunities, they seemed like a team lacking in ideas and confidence.
The Green Brigade, a prominent group of fans, had called for Lennon’s departure before the Europa League exit was confirmed and the demand for changes will intensify after a poor performance.
Celtic are 11 points behind Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers, albeit with two games in hand, and the manner of their defeat will intensify sentiments among a growing band of supporters that they will not recover unchanged.
The county is winless in seven Scottish Premiership games and manager Stuart Kettlewell had stated that last weekend’s 3-1 loss to 10-man Kilmarnock was one of the worst results in his 12 years with the club. .
Lennon changed their formation to 3-5-2 after Celtic’s second 4-1 loss to Sparta Prague in three weeks. Defender Nir Bitton and striker Albian Ajeti replaced midfielder pair Callum McGregor and Mohamed Elyounoussi while Vasilis
Barkas replaced Scott Bain in goal.
Alex Lacovitti scores Ross County’s second goal
There was little in the game before the opener and Celtic lacked the width to get behind County. Ryan Christie had a comfortably saved shot after a counterattack and Tom Rogic fired into the side net after a corner kick on either side of Celtic’s best chance to open the scoring.
That came after Christie appeared to have pushed his way through the county defense before being brought down at the edge of the area by Callum Morris, who avoided a card of any color. Ross Laidlaw pushed Odsonne Edouard aside
Free shot.
County, which lost Charlie Lakin to injury early on, had threatened two long-range efforts from Harry Paton before taking the lead.
Josh Reid swerved down the left and Christopher Jullien dropped Stewart as he made a desperate attempt to prevent the forward from reaching the low center of the near wing post. Stewart sent Barkas down the wrong path.
Ross County Players Celebrate Shocking Victory
Ajeti had a glorious opportunity to equalize within two minutes after a touch from Rogic cleared him clean, but the Swiss forward hit the inside of the post and the ball ricocheted towards safety.
Diego Laxalt and Christie strayed from half chances and Kristoffer Ajer had a saved effort after a set piece play, but Celtic struggled to bring down a packed county rearguard and Lennon made a double change midway.
second half.
A dejected Scott Brown leaves the field after Celtic’s loss to Ross County
McGregor and Elyounoussi replaced Ajeti and Bitton while Celtic had four behind again.
They immediately created an excellent opportunity, but Elyounoussi headed wide from eight yards after a cross by Rogic found him unmarked.
Edouard hit a volley before Lennon brought in Shane Duffy for right back Hatem Abd Elhamed.
But County doubled their lead in the 84th minute when Iacovitti nodded after a Iain Vigurs corner kick had been thrown at the far post.
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