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Celtic win surreal, says Lincoln Red Imps match-winner Lee Casciaro

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Goalscorer Lee Casciaro talks about how the part-timers from Gibraltar beat Celtic in their Champions League qualifier

The Gibraltarian policeman who scored the winner in Lincoln Red Imps' shock humiliation of Celtic described the victory as "surreal".

Lee Casciaro - the 34-year-old Gibraltar international striker - scored the only goal at the Victoria Stadium to beat Brendan Rodgers' side 1-0 in the Champions League second qualifying round first leg.

Casciaro is an officer in the Gibraltar Defence Police and said scoring the winner for a semi-professional side that first played in the Champions League only two years ago will be something he remembers for the rest of his life.

Lincoln's Lee Casciaro (second from right) celebrates as he opens the scoring
Image: Lee Casciaro got the better of Efe Ambrose and slotted home on 48 minutes

He told Sky Sports News HQ: "It's what people dream about since they are a young kid playing in Gibraltar - beating a big club like Celtic.

"Scoring the winning goal is something I will remember for the rest of my life. I scored for Gibraltar against Scotland but we lost 6-1. Today we won and it's a major achievement for a small club like Lincoln and the whole of Gibraltar.

 Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers leaves the field of play at full time
Image: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers cut a dejected figure after their 1-0 defeat

"This is like a hobby for us. We have a couple of professionals from Spain and a few locals. We train daily around two hours but combine it with the other things we do at the moment.

"It is surreal and we've done it today."

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Rodgers side struggled on a plastic pitch in hot conditions in what was his first competitive match in charge since taking over from Ronny Deila.

And Casciaro said: "We knew that we would cause them problems. We knew the pitch and the weather wouldn't benefit them; that they weren't used to these conditions and were going to struggle.

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Former Celtic striker and Sky Sports analyst Andy Walker reacts to the defeat to Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar

"If we pressured them they'd leave spaces defensively. We had to exploit that.

"We know the second leg will be completely different; at Celtic Park against 60,000 people cheering them on, and the pitch will benefit them. But we will work on it before we leave and if we can sore a goal there they will have to score three, so we'll see what we can do."

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