The former Hoops winger held his hands up and bounced back in the best way possible – by netting a hat-trick
12:34, 16 Oct 2025Updated 19:32, 16 Oct 2025
Mo Elyounoussi reckons he was hung out to dry at the time after being caught on his phone on the Celtic bench.
The Norwegian was pilloried for taking a peek at his mobile after being subbed during a shocking 4-1 Europa League defeat to Sparta Prague back in November 2020.
Hoops legends Chris Sutton and Paul Lambert were among those who slaughtered the winger at the time for an apparent lack of professionalism.
Five years on from the slip-up, Elyounoussi cringes at a mistake made during one of the strangest periods in football history amid the Covid pandemic.
Mo Elyounoussi has a quick check of his phone in the stand(Image: Daily Record)
He told Record Sport : “So what happened was I was subbed off and I went to shower – I think it was cold at that time – I got changed to the tracksuit we used and I had my phone in my pocket.
“So I was watching the game and then I was thinking, ‘Oh, let me check the results from the other games.’
“So I did that for I would say tops 10 seconds. But when you’re watching on TV, 10 seconds is quite long.
“I didn’t even text or something, I just looked at the scores. So it was really bad and we were in a bad run of games.
“I think at that time, we were under pressure and I would say I was probably the scapegoat from that game.
“They used me as a scapegoat and which, to be fair looking back to it, is very unprofessional to do. So you know, I take the blame.
“And I knew there would be eyes on me and I had to talk with Neil Lennon and I was like, ‘Hands up, that was bad for me.’”
Hat-trick hero Mo Elyounoussi quickly got back in his manager’s good books(Image: SNS Group)
Elyounoussi responded in spectacular style days later by netting a hat-trick at Fir Park.
He said: “Luckily, the manager gave me a chance to play the next game and I remember I was like, ‘I really have to perform now’.
“Because not only the experts, some of the fans as well, I got messages.
“So I knew that I had to make this right and I did the next game. So that was a relief!”
At the time, Elyounoussi felt unfairly criticised during a period where Celtic’s season crashed and burned.
Now aged 31, the experienced star takes a different view with an older and wiser head on his shoulders.
He added: “There and then, yes. I thought they really used me as a scapegoat. But looking back now, I think that was probably fair.
“You know, that’s a very unprofessional thing to do.
“I could never imagine doing it now – or even not be able to do it now either.
“But I responded in the perfect way anyway and then the story just lasted for a few days.”