M
SM
Wednesday, July 10
Collect News Data

Scottish Premiership

Champions League

Jul 9, 2019 at 6.45pm UK
SarajevoSarajevo
1-3
Celtic
 
FT

Game Menu

/esi/1339/6_G_1_93681/index.html?art_id=364432&game_id=93681&sport_id=1&ESI

Neil Lennon hails "big-game player" Odsonne Edouard

:Headline: Neil Lennon hails 'big-game player' Odsonne Edouard:
Celtic boss Neil Lennon hailed the French striker after he scored in a 3-1 Champions League qualifying win over Sarajevo.
PA | 10h

Celtic boss Neil Lennon revealed an interval change of boots saw Odsonne Edouard demonstrate once more against Sarajevo that he is "a big-game player."

The French striker struggled to keep his feet in the first leg of the Champions League first qualifier at a sodden Asim Ferhatovic Hase stadium, where Mirko Oremus put the hosts ahead in the 29th minute before Mikey Johnston quickly levelled.

Edouard, 21, scored both goals in the 2-1 William Hill Scottish Cup final win over Hearts last season to give Celtic an unprecedented domestic treble treble and he started this campaign with a classy finish in 51st minute before substitute Scott Sinclair added a third with a cheeky back-heel four minutes from time.

"Odsonne had to change his boots at half-time because the pitch was very heavy," said Lennon.

"He was slipping a little bit but looked a lot more assured in the second half.

"Odsonne is a big-game player. You don't have to whip him too much to get a response from him. His finish showed great composure.

"Mikey scored a great goal, it was great hit. Again, he did some special things in the game, so he can be delighted.

"It was a really important goal at that stage of the game. It settled us and we had control after that."

Celtic have been linked with 20-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder Sergio Quintero, but when asked about the Imbabura SC player Lennon said: "I don't know where that has come from. He has not cropped up in any conversation so far."

It was the first qualifying game out of four qualifying rounds to make the group stages and the Glasgow club are now heavy favourite to go through.

The return game is at Parkhead next Wednesday night, with the victors taking on the winners of the tie between Estonian side Nomme Kalju and Shkendija of North Macedonia.

Lennon was pleased with what his side are taking into the second leg but insists the tie is not over.

He said: "To score three goals away from home, no matter the level or stage, at this stage of the season is very promising.

"I am absolutely delighted with the result and performance.

"It is so early in our preparation but the condition of the players, the quality of the goals in the game was great. It was a terrific team performance.

"They were well set up tactically, we knew they would be a real danger at set-plays, which proved to be the case, and we had to dig in a little bit and once we did we took control of the game.

"I was really pleased about how we reacted to their goal.

"We were a bit cagey, trying to work them out, and once we got the ball down and moved it quicker, we got a lot of joy from that."

body check tags ::
amp_article_364432 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2019-07-10 08:36:50:
html db last update - 2019-07-10 08:28:29 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Odsonne Edouard

Click here for more stories about Celtic

Share this article now:

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Neil Lennon talks up importance of Champions League qualification
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: 'No bids for Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku'
Mikey Johnston looking to repay Neil Lennon confidence with more goals

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.