CELTIC overcame Swedish champions AIK 2-0 tonight (Thursday) in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off encounter. After the match, manager Neil Lennon hailed a confident team performance, with the team aiming to complete the job in Stockholm next week.

A fine strike from James Forrest put the Hoops in front after the break, before a sublime 25-yard free-kick from Odsonne Edouard doubled their lead on the night. The manager singled out both players for praise, and was impressed with his side’s overall resoluteness against a capable opponent.

He said: “It was an outstanding performance, and a great team performance. We played well in the first-half, but I thought we were magnificent in the second. Some of the football we played was great and we scored some fantastic goals.

“Odsonne is playing brilliantly. He’s leading the line superbly, and I can’t speak highly enough of his talent. He’s an integral part and important figure in this team.

“I also think James is underplayed in terms of public image, but I think that suits him. That’s five goals in five games for him now and we never take that for granted. He’s an outstanding player and he’s got so much more to come. I’ve known him for a long time. He did wonders for me the first time round and he’s doing it again."

Neil Lennon was also pleased with the contributions of both Boli Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien, and once again sang the praises of Kris Ajer – the Norwegian slotting into the right-back role.

He added: “We defended resolutely and strongly tonight. AIK were tough, but I thought we played very well and had good energy around the pitch and a spark that we might have lacked last weekend.

“Next week is a European tie away from home against the Swedish champions. We’ve given ourselves a foothold which is important, but we need to see it through next week.

"Boli was good, as was Christopher, and Kris Ajer is having an outstanding period at the moment. We didn’t give AIK a foothold in the game early on, we pressed as a unit and the tempo pleased me.

“We’ve now got a big game at the weekend, but we want to get the job done properly next week. We still have an important 90 minutes ahead of us.”

Neil Lennon: Win over AIK was outstanding team performance