Commons slams woeful Ambrose

Kris Commons has criticised the performance of Efe Ambrose following Celtic’s 3-0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League.

After winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria, Ambrose only arrived back in Scotland from South Africa on Tuesday morning (local time), but was included in the starting line-up after insisting he was fit enough to play.

Ambrose misjudged the flight of the ball to allow Juventus to open the scoring after less than three minutes of the match at Parkhead, before missing one of Celtic’s best chances of the game with a free header.

He then lost possession to Mirko Vucinic who tucked home the third goal and effectively ended Celtic’s chances of progression to quarter-finals.

“Look, the manager picked (Ambrose). The manager pulled him to one side and asked him if he was feeling okay. He said he was feeling brilliant,” Commons said after the game.

“You know, if he wasn’t feeling okay, then he should have said so. If he felt good, then he should have put in a better performance.”

Commons did not just focus his frustration at the centre-back though, he also rued mistakes made by the entire team to allow Juventus to take a comfortable three-goal lead to the second leg in Turin.

“It was just very sloppy, individual mistakes,” he said.

“Something you would probably get away with on a playground, not in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“There are certain individuals who let the team down tonight. At this level, you clearly can’t afford to make mistakes. If you do, you end up coming away with a 3-0 defeat.”

Celtic captain Scott Brown, meanwhile, focused his attention on Juventus’ physical tactics, with a number of questionable incidents going unpunished by referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco.

“Their defenders manhandled every single one of us. Anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a foul,” he said.

“They knew we were strong at set-pieces and strong at running, the only way they could stop us was to manhandle us.”