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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Liam Bryce

Neil Lennon buoyant despite Manchester United defeat as former Celtic boss in 'more than I could imagine' confession

Neil Lennon insists grabbing two goals against Manchester United was a huge feat for his Omonia underdogs.

The former Celtic and Hibs boss took his unfancied side up against Erik ten Hag 's expensively-assembled Red Devils and ran them close in a 3-2 Europa League defeat on Thursday. They delighted a raucous home crowd by taking a first-half lead but United rallied after the break to hand Lennon a third straight group stage defeat.

After Karim Ansarifard's opener, Marcus Rashford struck twice either side of an Anthony Martial goal but a late finish from Nikolas Panayioutou kept the contest alive until the final whistle. Omonia also spurned a golden chance to level matters with the score at 2-1 as Bruno Felipe fluffed his lines one-on-one with David de Gea. Lennon admitted there may be a regret or two among some of his players but was largely buoyant following a huge occasion for the club.

He told BT Sport: "Listen, we rode our luck a lot. We kept ourselves in it, whether it be good goalkeeping or United missing good chances.

"To score two goals against them is probably more than I could've imagined. I didn't think we believed in ourselves until we scored.

"It gave us something to hold on to. They've had to quick-fire goals but we've had chances at 2-1 to get level. The third goal has killed us and, on the balance of play, United thoroughly deserved their win."

He continued: "I think some of them will (have regrets). The second goal, we're too open from right centre-back to right centre-back and that was a crucial point in the game. And then Bruno misses a great chance with the lob to get us back in it.

"When you're feeding off scraps at times you've got to make them count. There's things we could do better in terms of ball retention at times but the gulf between the two teams is huge and we know that. But we made a game of it and to get two goals is fantastic."

Next up for Lennon's team is a trip to Old Trafford for the reverse fixture and the Irishman vowed they'll give it everything. He said: "It's going to be a different game again. We've seen them up close and know how good they, and maybe know what their weaknesses are.

"It's a hell of a long shot to get something out of the game but we'll go there and give it everything we've got it. It was a big night for us and some of the players stood up really."

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