Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic lost a domestic cup tie for the first time in four years as Ross County won 2-0 at Celtic Park to leave Neil Lennon hanging on to his job as Hoops boss.
Ross Stewart’s first-half penalty and an Alex Iacovitti header five minutes from time ended Celtic’s 35-game winning run in cup competitions.
The Scottish champions have won just two of their last 10 games in all competitions to also crash out of the Europa League and fall 11 points behind Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Despite mounting calls from fans for Lennon to go, he insisted in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he had the full backing of major shareholder Dermot Desmond and chief executive Peter Lawwell.
However, there was no sign of a response from his players as another disjointed Celtic display littered with defensive mistakes was punished by the Staggies.
Celtic will have the chance to claim a 12th consecutive major trophy in Scotland in next month’s delayed Scottish Cup final.
But the first silverware of 2021 will bring a changing of the guard with Rangers now heavy favourites to secure their first trophy under Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard’s men travel to Falkirk later on Sunday looking to book their place in the quarter-finals.
