Manchester United icon defends Celtic player in loss to Lazio

Celtic hearts were left broken again as they conceded late on to lose at the hands of Lazio at Parkhead, a game that they should have won comfortably considering the performances of the two teams. But unfortunately, that has been the story of the Hoops in the Champions League in recent years.

It was an evening that had started off so well. Kyogo had finally scored his first goal in Europe’s elite competition to hand Celtic the lead over Lazio and the Hoops looked like the much better team.

But then, Lazio would get back into the game. Ultimately, they scored two goals which Celtic would have been disappointed to concede and Maurizio Sarri’s side must consider themselves lucky to take home all three points from this match.

One player who has received quite a bit of criticism in recent times is Joe Hart. But it does not look like he was at fault for the loss at the hands of Lazio.

Manchester United icon defends Celtic player in loss to Lazio

As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Peter Schmeichel told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (04/10/23 at 10:40 pm) when asked about Hart in Lazio’s second goal:

"“He can’t do much there.“I would never criticise Joe Hart because he is Micah Richards’ best friend. I am not brave enough to do that.”"

While accompanied by a joke, it is quite clear that Schmeichel did not think that Hart could have done much to save Lazio’s second goal from going in. And to be honest, not many fans felt that during the game.

Hart might have put in some questionable displays in recent times, but he certainly was not the issue in the recent game against Lazio. In fact, he is one of the few players in the team who has the experience of playing a good amount of football at this level.

A bit more experience is certainly something Celtic could do with. Their inexperience is one of the biggest reasons behind their struggles getting results in the Champions League.