Edouard brace puts Bhoys in pole position

ODSONNE EDOUARD grabbed two goals as Celtic came from behind to beat Rosenborg 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifier at Parkhead.

T he Nor wegian champions, who controversially sacked their manager Kare Ingebrigsten la st week and replaced him with academy director Rini Coolen as interim boss, took the lead in the 15th minute through defender Birger Meling.

However, Brendan Rodgers’ side showed their mettle and goals from striker Edouard and fellow Frenchman Oliv ier Ntcham just before and af ter the break put the home side in f ront.

Edouard (below), bought for a reported club record fee of £9 million from Paris Saint Germain in the summer after a loan spell last season, stretched that lead with another well-taken goal in the

75th minute to give the Hoops a decent advantage to take to Norway next week.

Despite the loss of an away goal, it g ives Celtic a two-goal cushion to defend in Nor way in the second leg nex t week.

With the losers of this t ie set to face Cork Cit y in Europa Leag ue qualif y ing, it means the Nor wegian side now loom as the most likely opponents for John Caulf ield’s outf it .

Rosenborg opened the scoring on 15 minutes when Nick las Bendtner picked out Meling and the f ull-back slipped his shot past Craig Gordon.

Edouard was to level it before the break, though.

Scott Sinclair came in of f his lef t wing and squared to the str iker, who took a tidy f irst touch and then passed his shot into the corner of Andre Hansen’s net.

A goal came a few minutes before the break and another just a few minutes af ter.

Ntcham, in space outside the box, brought the ball on to his r ig ht foot and curled a beauty around Hansen.

Edouard then grabbed his second, and Celtic’s third, with 15 minutes to play.

The big forward went through one-on-one with Hansen and dinked the most sumptuous chip over his head to hand Celtic have a handsome advantage.