Neil Lennon praises outstanding James Forrest for Celtic performance

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon hailed Celtic attacker James Forrest after he helped the team qualify for the Europa League group stages.

The Bhoys beat Swedish outfit AIK 4-1 away on Thursday night in the second leg of their Europa League play-off qualifier.

That secured the Scottish champions a 6-1 aggregate victory and they are now in the pot for the group stage draw on Friday afternoon.

After the disappointment of elimination from the Champions League qualifiers, Celtic have managed to brush themselves off and at least reached the Europa League.

They produced a clinical away display on Thursday in Sweden and it was Forrest who opened the scoring in the first-half, while also supplying an assist later on.

The 28-year-old winger controlled a bouncing ball in the penalty area and fired in a left-footed effort into the top corner.

He has been in stunning form at the beginning of the campaign, with six goals and five assists in 11 games across all competitions so far.

“The first goal is a beautiful goal and an outstanding finish. I thought Jamesy (Forrest) was magnificent tonight in everything he did. On the ball, off the ball and the front four looked very powerful and a threat,” Lennon said, as quoted by the club’s official Youtube account.

TBR’s View:

Forrest has certainly cemented himself as a key player in Celtic’s history in recent years and that remarkable aspects is that he continues to get better each season.

The Scotland international was directly involved in 38 goals across all competitions during the last campaign and has started the new one on fire too.

He’s a quick wide player blessed with tremendous skill and has a knack of scoring in big matches.

With Celtic travelling to Old Firm rivals Rangers on Sunday in the league, it’s the type of game Forrest will be ready to leave an impact on.