'We Came Up With Another Great Goal, And That's A Sign Of A Great Team, That We Can Come Again And Keep Showing That Fortitude'

IN the immediate aftermath of Celtic’s dramatic 1-0 away win over Dundee last month, Neil Lennon said Odsonne Edouard’s last-gasp winner had paid off a huge chunk of his transfer fee.

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With a goal and an assist during Sunday’s emphatic Glasgow derby win, it could be argued the 21-year-striker is priceless.

So good was the Frenchman against city rivals Rangers, that the Hoops boss described his performance as magnificent from start to finish. Edouard’s prowess in front of goal put the Scottish champions 1-0 up before half-time, when a wonderful through-ball from team-mate James Forrest was matched by an inspired act of solo skill.

After conceding against the run of play just after the hour, the same two Celts combined again with just four minutes of normal time remaining – the French striker this time assisting Forrest – to secure all three points, and extend the Scottish champions’ lead at the top of the Premiership to 13 points with seven games of the campaign to go.

“I thought Odsonne was magnificent against Rangers. He was absolutely incredible,” said Neil Lennon. “I think it was the best I’ve seen him in his time here, in fact, and I’ve watched a number of Celtic games prior to coming in since he came to the club. He really was the standout player on Sunday, he scored a brilliant goal, he made a brilliant assist, and he gave the opposing centre-halves all the trouble he could muster.

“We scored two good goals, and I wished we’d scored more. For an hour we were in total control of the game, and then the equaliser changed the psychology of it all. People get a little anxious in the stadium, and that can transfer on to the pitch and on to the players.

“Sometimes that can be a difficult thing to deal with, and to be fair, Rangers did have a lot to play for so they threw everything at us, as you’d probably expect. We came up with another a great goal, and that’s a sign of a great team, that we can come again and keep showing that fortitude.”