WHAT a win for Celtic on Thursday night, and what a special atmosphere.

The game itself was a good watch, and was evenly balanced for the most part. If anything, you could maybe say that Lazio had the better chances.

People might look at Lazio and think they are not Juventus, but they are the best team that Celtic will face in the group. They were really quick and crisp on the break, and that’s ultimately how they got their goal.

But for the post and Fraser Forster, it could have been different, but that’s taking nothing away from Celtic’s resilience and the way they dug in to get a brilliant result. That Joaquin Correa effort off the woodwork was a pivotal moment, and Celtic made the most of their good fortune.

Neil Lennon deserves credit for tweaking things during the second half and sending Ryan Christie further forward to give Odsonne Edouard a little bit more support. It was a bold move and it paid off immediately.

Then, towards the end of the game he made another change as he brought Nir Bitton on and went three at the back to tighten things up.

I have always felt that Neil is very tactically astute, and he proved that against Lazio. He tends to get more things right than wrong, and while the Cluj game will get held against him perhaps in the Champions League qualifiers, he has proven over the piece that he is a better coach than he widely gets credit for.

Let’s not forget that Neil was in charge when Celtic beat Barcelona after all, and you don’t pull off a result like that if you don’t know how to set up a team properly.

He used a lot of that savvy on Thursday night to get the win over Lazio too, and the more eye-catching results that a coach gets, the more faith the players have in the instructions he is giving them.

He has certainly instilled a bit of belief into the team, and although they have had the odd blip, they have always bounced back.

Neil has his men playing with speed and incision, and it is good to watch.

I’ve always given him credit for his tactical knowledge, when perhaps there were some people out there who thought it was a step down in that regard when he was brought in to replace a high-profile coach like Brendan Rodgers.

You could actually argue that Neil’s results are better than Brendan’s in Europe, and while there is no taking away from what Brendan did at the club, Neil has more than carried that on.

In fact, he has the team playing in a very identifiable Celtic style, with fast, direct football which is easy on the eye and which has a real cutting edge.

The priority at Celtic has always been to win, and he is doing that, but fans want to see the team playing in a certain way.

I wouldn’t say that Neil is better than Brendan, they have different styles. Brendan had much more of a possession-based style, while Neil likes to get it forward. I don’t mean by long balls, but by getting it moving forward quickly. One style isn’t better than the other, but Neil deserves to be held up as just as good a coach as Brendan for me.

All in all, it was a great victory, and a hugely enjoyable evening to be at Celtic Park.

The mentality of Celtic was also very impressive, because Scottish fans of all persuasions will be used to seeing our teams lose late goals over the years, and they turned that on its head. They showed grit, determination, and they finished the game well.

The atmosphere was second to none, and what makes it even more special is that the fans had a result to celebrate at the end of it all.

I would say Celtic are now favourites to go through, but the group is not done and dusted quite yet. They have a game in Rome, and Lazio will feel aggrieved after that loss on Thursday. Their manager Simone Inzaghi said as much when he said his side would have won but for Fraser Forster.

The great thing about the other night is that Celtic weren’t outclassed or outplayed. Yes, Lazio had the upper hand in patches, but they weren’t allowed to dominate.

It’s all looking rosy in the Celtic garden again, and Neil Lennon deserves due credit.