Celtic thumped 4-1 at home by Sparta Prague in Europa League

Celtic have been beaten 4-1 by Sparta Prague in their Europa League Group H match in Glasgow.

The defeat is a third consecutive home loss for Neil Lennon’s side and leaves them at the bottom of their group at the halfway stage.

After drawing 2-2 with Lille in France last Thursday, Celtic were hoping to use home advantage to make a mark in the group but soon found themselves up against it.

Lukas Julis put Sparta ahead after 26 minutes, pouncing to score from close range with Celtic’s defence at sixes and sevens after a corner.

The forward doubled his tally a minute before half-time when he seized on another defensive lapse to put his side 2-0 up.

Half-time brought some respite but immediately after the restart the hosts almost handed Sparta another goal, Scott Bain making a mess of a pass to Callum McGregor and allowing Julis a chance for his hat-trick that he passed up.

On the hour mark Lennon made changes, introducing Leigh Griffiths and Hatem Abd Elhamed for Scott Brown and Mohamed Elyounoussi.

Griffiths made an instant impact, lashing home the rebound after Tom Rogic’s shot was saved by Florian Nita.

That sparked hopes of a Celtic comeback but they failed to build on it and Julis completed his hat-trick after an incisive counter-attack.

Celtic had no answers and Sparta took a fourth in the final moments, with Ladislav Krejci heading home at the far post.

Celtic sit bottom of Group H with one point from their opening three games. They next face Sparta in Prague on November 26.