Source: FOOTYMAD
Need to kill off sides when the chance is there
Another harsh lesson handed out by a side willing to play till the last extra second Neil Lennon does not have the time to keep watching his players learn harsh lessons after Dundee United defender Sean Dillon's last-gasp equaliser at Parkhead left Celtic losing two points in the chase for the SPL title. They are now three points adrift of leaders Rangers and this is not good enough for Lennon or the Celtic fans. Gary Hooper scored his 11th goal of the season in the 23rd minute and it looked to be enough to keep all three points at Parkhead. However, in the last seconds of added time, after Shaun Maloney had fouled Barry Douglas to concede a free-kick wide on the left, Sean Dillon headed in a dramatic equaliser to stun the home support and the Celtic manager. Lennon said: "You have to recognise important moments in the game and when you are one-nil up deep in to injury time you have to see it out. I can't keep saying it's a learning experience because I haven't got time to keep saying that. It's galling to drop points but the gap is not insurmountable. It's only three points and our goal difference is still pretty healthy. But the players need to learn from this. There is a mentality you have to have and you need to see games out. We didn't do that. We've gone to ground for the free kick before the goal. I'm sure if it was a free kick but you shouldn't give the referee the opportunity to give the free kick. It's cheap and it's annoying. If you give silly free kicks then you are asking the ball to get put in your box." Lennon was also displeased at the way his defence, which had looked nervy all afternoon, had defended Douglas's free-kick. He said: "We defended set-pieces well but we should have been strong enough to see it through. At that stage of the game you should be throwing yourselves at things. What galls me is that it is a free header in the six yard box in the middle of the goal. From our point of view that is unacceptable. However, there were lots of aspects of the game that pleased me and we should have put the game to bed." Lennon's opposite number Peter Houston claimed his Dundee United side could well have left Parkhead with all three points. Lennon disagreed and retorted: "He must have been watching a totally different game from me. Who was the busier keeper? David Goodwillie had the best chance of the first half but after that it was chance after chance for us. We had one cleared off the line, Pernis had made two or three saves so I don't buy in to that."
