MX23RW : Thursday, April 25 23:19:51| >> :600:360579:360579:
[monks data]
Champions League Qualifying | First Qualifying Round
Jul 9, 2019 at 6.45pm UK
 
Celtic logo

1-3

Oremus (29')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Johnston (35'), Édouard (51'), Sinclair (85')

Neil Lennon hails "big-game player" Odsonne Edouard

Neil Lennon hails
© Reuters
Celtic boss Neil Lennon hailed the French striker after he scored in a 3-1 Champions League qualifying win over Sarajevo.

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."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Ronnie Esplin, PA, Sarajevo');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '571f66e9-b53a-4100-b7f9-9c3c8d8aa425');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Odsonne Edouard needed half-time change of boots before downing Sarajevo'});

ID:364432: cacheID:364432:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5489:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Celtic boss Neil Lennon pictured on May 19, 2019
Read Next:
Neil Lennon talks up importance of Champions League qualification
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Bublik
Carballes Baena
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
11.30am
Altmaier
Fils
11.30am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
11.30am
Alexandrova
Krueger
11.30am
Bucsa
Kasatkina
11.30am
Dolehide
Kalinina
11.30am
Jimenez Kasintseva
Paolini
11.30am
Linette
Sabalenka
1pm
Baez
Van Assche
1pm
Hurkacz
Draper
1pm
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
1pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
1pm
Kostyuk
Sherif
2pm
Zheng
Putintseva
2.30pm
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
2.30pm
Darderi
Fritz
2.30pm
Boulter
Montgomery
3pm
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
3.30pm
Vondrousova
Rogers
4pm
Griekspoor
Daniel
4pm
Munar
Struff
5pm
Navone
Rune
7pm
Coric
Zverev
8.30pm
Collins
Danilovic
11.30am
Shang
Davidovich Fokina
Tables header RHS


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!