Stand-in room only
No Moussa, no hassle as Hoops hero’s French pals turn on super show to ease fears after early shock
CELTIC ....... 3 ROSENBORG ....... 1 CRAIG SWAN AT CELTIC PARK
MOUSSA DEMBELE wasn’t around. It’s just as well as his French buddies can also finish with some real joie de vivre.
Odsonne Edouard and Olivier Ntcham have yet to be afforded the same hero worship as their countryman but they are well on their way and last night produced three stunning goals and two sensational performances to put Celtic in control of their Champions League tie.
Brendan Rodgers and his team had to wobble precariously along a Trondheim tightrope 12 months ago to make the group stage. Yet next week they should be able to saunter to their target more serenely without any fears of a catastrophic stumble.
That’s down to their French flyers as Odsonne and Oli made it Double O Heaven when at one stage it was teetering towards hell after Rosenborg stunned Parkhead with an early away goal.
With Dembele stuck on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, it needed others to come up trumps and his compatriots stepped forward.
Edouard paid off another chunk of his hefty transfer fee with two terrific goals while the superb Ntcham scored a stunning long-range effort to avert alarm.
In the end Celtic could have had more. Denied by superb goalkeeping and the woodwork as they pounded the Norwegians after the interval, a fraught evening was turned into an emphatic success.
And although nothing can be taken for granted, Rodgers and his Scottish champions are strong favourites to finish the job on Wednesday in the Lerkendal Stadium.
Given the high stakes and shock early concession, it was a performance and outcome that could only be described as highly satisfactory, especially taking into account the additional issue of selection problems.
Rodgers needed to reshuffle his side with the injury to Dembele, suspension for Jozo Simunovic and the absences of Dedryck Boyata and Mikael Lustig and made a largely unanticipated move.
To solve the issue on the right-hand side of the backline caused by Jack Hendry’s need to switch inside to cover Simunovic, Cristian Gamboa was included for a first outing in five months. Scott Sinclair was also back in the team but the alterations caused disruption and there was a disjointed feel throughout a first period in which the hosts trailed for a long spell.
The opening exchanges weren’t bad for Celtic. Edouard engineered space and Ntcham did the same.
One of the long strikes was weak and straight at Rosenborg keeper Andre Hansen and the other was powerful and miles too high.
Yet there was trouble in the air. Rosenborg had probed with intent a couple of times before they were handed an opportunity to snare a crucial away goal. It was only 15 minutes into the game but they ruthlessly accepted the invite.
Hendry gave the ball away in the middle of the park and, having emptied his position to make strides forward, left his team exposed to a lethal counter-attack.
The Norwegians moved the ball at a rapid pace as Celtic tried to scramble back and carved a shooting chance for raiding full-back Birger Meling to steer low past Craig Gordon into the net. It was a brutal blow. The response had to be strong. More urgency entered the Celtic play before the interval and they dug out an equaliser after a period of pressure. Just.
Before it came, Callum McGregor’s corner kick offered a free header to Kristoffer Ajer at the near post but the kid couldn’t get a firm enough contact to trouble his countrymen.
Ntcham and McGregor had shots but with the Norwegians packed tight centrally to defend their goal, the inability of the home team to get around the back in wider areas was forcing them into congestion.
Frustration had built. Rodgers and his players screamed for a spot-kick when Ntcham crashed to the deck in the box after a James Forrest through pass but Belgian ref Bert Vertenten
wasn’t interested. Rosenborg were streetwise. The defenders blocked runners, stopped little one-twos.
It was getting to the Celtic players and fans but the strain was cracked two minutes from the turnaround by Edouard.
Sinclair shuttled a short pass into the Frenchman in the area. There was a bit to do but Edouard made it look simple as he took a sharp touch and stroked a neat finish low into the corner. It was a massive boost at a vital time for Rodgers and his team.
It was also a springboard. If they finished the first period strongly, they began the second with even more thrust and kept it going after taking the lead 43 seconds in. McGregor picked out Ntcham on the edge of the box for the second and the rest was poetry. The midfielder produced a delicious trick to manoeuvre the ball out of his feet and curled a special strike into the top corner.
Suddenly tension was replaced by the buoyant vibe. A thirst for the kill.
McGregor had a shot deflected wide and hit the bar with a cheeky lob from the resultant corner.
Edouard whipped a free-kick narrowly past and both Gamboa and Hendry had shots diverted wide by last-gasp defensive blocks for corners as Celtic hunted a cushion.
Hansen was then called into action to make two sensational saves. The first from Sinclair’s wicked drive was excellent. The second from Ntcham’s reversed swirler that he touched on to the bar was out of this world. It was now all-out assault.
Kieran Tierney was denied before Edouard produced sheer impudence 15 minutes from time to seal it.
There might have been a fourth after it as Hendry hit the bar but the quality of the third deserved to conclude the scoring.
Forrest, key to the fightback after switching back out to the right flank, pounced on a loose pass to send the striker free. Edouard burst clear for a one-on-one and his dinked finish was composure and class in one. Dembele would have applauded.